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The Color of Pomegranates

Original title: Sayat Nova
  • 1969
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 19m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
12K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,311
1,438
The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
A surreal biopic of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, told via non-narrative amalgamations of images, hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.
Play trailer0:57
1 Video
87 Photos
BiographyDramaHistory

A surreal biopic of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, told via non-narrative amalgamations of images, hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.A surreal biopic of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, told via non-narrative amalgamations of images, hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.A surreal biopic of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, told via non-narrative amalgamations of images, hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

  • Director
    • Sergei Parajanov
  • Writers
    • Sayat Nova
    • Sergei Parajanov
  • Stars
    • Sofiko Chiaureli
    • Melkon Alekyan
    • Vilen Galstyan
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    12K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,311
    1,438
    • Director
      • Sergei Parajanov
    • Writers
      • Sayat Nova
      • Sergei Parajanov
    • Stars
      • Sofiko Chiaureli
      • Melkon Alekyan
      • Vilen Galstyan
    • 62User reviews
    • 52Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 0:57
    Watch Trailer

    Photos87

    Sofiko Chiaureli in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Sofiko Chiaureli in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Sergei Parajanov in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Sofiko Chiaureli in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Vartanov filmed Sergei Paradjanov in 1968 on the set of The Color of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova).
    The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Sofiko Chiaureli in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    Sofiko Chiaureli in The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
    The Color of Pomegranates (1969)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sofiko Chiaureli
    Sofiko Chiaureli
    • Poet as a Youth…
    Melkon Alekyan
    • Poet as a child
    • (as M. Alekyan)
    Vilen Galstyan
    • Poet in the cloister
    Gogi Gegechkori
    Gogi Gegechkori
    • Poet as an old man
    • (as Giorgi Gegechkori)
    Spartak Bagashvili
    Spartak Bagashvili
    • Poet's father
    Medea Japaridze
    Medea Japaridze
    • Poet's mother
    Hovhannes Minasyan
    • Prince
    Onik Minasyan
    • Prince
    Yuri Amiryan
    I. Babayan
    Medea Bibileishvili
    T. Dvali
    Aleksandr Dzhanshiyev
    • Monk
    Guranda Gabunia
    Zh. Gharibyan
    L. Karamyan
    G. Margaryan
    G. Matsukatov
    • Director
      • Sergei Parajanov
    • Writers
      • Sayat Nova
      • Sergei Parajanov
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sergei Parajanov's 1969 masterpiece "Sayat Nova" was censored, re-cut, renamed (The Color of Pomegranates) and banned; its 1969 behind-the-scenes documentary Paradjanov: The Color of Armenian Land (1969) by Mikhail Vartanov was suppressed and the footage reappeared 20 years later in Mikhail Vartanov's influential documentary Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992), which demystified the unique film language of "Sayat Nova." Parajanov's "Sayat Nova" (The Color of Pomegranates) appeared on many lists of The Greatest Films of All Time (Sight and Sound, Cahiers du Cinema, Movieline, Time Out, etc). Mikhail Vartanov famously wrote: "Probably, besides the film language suggested by Griffith and Eisenstein, the world cinema has not discovered anything revolutionary new until (Sergei Parajanov's) Sayat Nova - The Color of Pomegranates." Michelangelo Antonioni later added that the film "astonishes with its perfection of beauty."
    • Quotes

      Poet as a Youth: In this healthy and beautiful life my share has been nothing but suffering. Why has it been given to me?

    • Alternate versions
      RESTORATION PROLOGUE: Two versions of this film have been restored. The Armenian version ('Parajanov's cut') was restored using the original camera negative, provided by Gosfilmofond in Russia as well as a 35mm dupe negative held by the National Cinema Centre of Armenia. The Russian version ('Sergei Yutkevic's cut') has been preserved for posterity using the original camera negative." "The editing and title cards of 'Parajanov's cut' have been reconstructed thanks to a careful analysis of all existing sources, including an Armenian reference print that matches the dupe negative." "The original camera negative has been scanned in 4K by Gosfilmofond in Russia and restored by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna. The sound restoration was made from the original magnetic track, preserved by Gosfilmofond, in addition to the Armenian reference print." "A vintage print of the film, produced on Orwo stock and preserved by the Harvard Film Archive, was used to guide the grating phase." "At the time of the film's release, the Russian censors decided that the film did not reflect Sayat Nova's life and renamed the film 'NRAN GUYNE' which translates to 'THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES.' Despite this intervention, the film remains internationally recognized by Parajanov's original title SAYAT NOVA."
    • Connections
      Edited into Gli ultimi giorni dell'umanità (2022)

    User reviews62

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    the best movie I've ever seen!
    The absolute 'must see'...no movie will ever look the same after seeing this one. This is the alphabet of understanding the art of motion pictures. Before I saw this movie, I thought that movies can be fun, sad, yearning or heart-warming, that they are entertainment for heart, mind or fantasy, that they can have some message, teach you something, that they can improve your morals, that they can hit great technical achievement, but I never realized that movies belong to the family of real arts and that they can hit into deepest,the most pure, the least understanding parts of human soul. Pictures that are changing, moving, pulsating, travel in its own rhythm with its very own sounds and music- that is the art of motion pictures, that is the art of what we call "The Movies". And what is more natural and more appealing to human kind then sense of movement, breathing, living? I can only thank to Sergei Parajanov for helping me to understand this, for opening my "third eye" for movies.
    helpful•78
    30
    • natashadodds
    • Jan 6, 2004

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 27, 1982 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • Soviet Union
    • Official site
      • Parajanov-Vartanov Institute (United States)
    • Languages
      • Armenian
      • Azerbaijani
      • Georgian
    • Also known as
      • Red Pomegranate
    • Filming locations
      • Haghpat monastery, Alaverdi, Armenia
    • Production companies
      • Armenfilm
      • Yerevan Film Studio
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 19 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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