The Color of Pomegranates (1969)

A super-stylized, surreal biography of Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, whose life is depicted through non-narrative amalgamations of poetic images.

Director:

Sergei Parajanov

Writers:

Sayat Nova (poems), Sergei Parajanov

Stars:

Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Alekyan, Vilen Galstyan

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sofiko Chiaureli	...	Poet as a Youth / Poet's Love / Poet's Muse / Mime / Angel of Resurrection
Melkon Alekyan	...	Poet as a child (as M. Alekyan)
Vilen Galstyan	...	Poet in the cloister
Gogi Gegechkori	...	Poet as an old man (as Giorgi Gegechkori)
Spartak Bagashvili	...	Poet's father
Medea Japaridze	...	Poet's mother
Hovhannes Minasyan	...	Prince
Onik Minasyan	...	Prince
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuri Amiryan
I. Babayan
Medea Bibileishvili
T. Dvali
Aleksandr Dzhanshiyev	...	Monk
Guranda Gabunia
Zh. Gharibyan

Storyline

One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century, Sergei Parajanov's "Color of the Pomegranate," a biography of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (King of Song) reveals the poet's life more through his poetry than a conventional narration of important events in Sayat Nova's life. We see the poet grow up, fall in love, enter a monastery and die, but these incidents are depicted in the context of what are images from Sergei Parajanov's imagination and Sayat Nova's poems, poems that are seen and rarely heard. Sofiko Chiaureli plays 6 roles, both male and female, and Sergei Parajanov writes, directs, edits, choreographs, works on costumes, design and decor and virtually every aspect of this revolutionary work.

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Plot Keywords:

poet | 18th century | armenian culture | surrealism | russia | 

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Taglines:

Besides the film language of Griffith & Eisenstein cinema hasn't discovered anything revolutionary new until The Color of Pomegranates - Mikhail Vartanov

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Parajanov-Vartanov Institute [United States]

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Armenian Azerbaijani Georgian

Release Date:

27 January 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

The Color of Pomegranates

Filming Locations:

Haghpat monastery, Alaverdi, Armenia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Armenfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min 72 min (Commercial Cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shown at the 1980 New York Film Festival without English subtitles (However for later release subtitles were added.) 34 years later, the masterpiece returned to the New York Film Festival, and was introduced by Martin Scorsese who moments earlier accepted the 2014 Parajanov-Vartanov Institute Award - named after Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov - on behalf of the Film Foundation for the restoration of The Color of Pomegranates (1969).

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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?

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Connections

Featured in Tsvet armyanskoy zemli (1969)

User Reviews

Fascinating and unusual film

The Color of Pomegranates (made in 1968, and also released under the name Sayat Nova) is not really a conventional movie. It is more like a series of tableaux "inspired" by 18th century Armenian poet Nova. It is nonetheless fascinating, and should be required viewing for anybody interested not only in Armenian culture but in cinema in general (or, if you wish, the visual arts). This movie has inspired many artists, including some music videos (admittedly not among the arts' highest form), including REM's "Losing my Religion" and Deep Forest's "Sweet Lullaby. There is a heavy homo erotic subtext to many of the tableaux, and as a matter of fact, Paradjanov would later spent several years in jail in the Soviet Union accused, among other things, of homosexuality. Though released under international pressure, it would take him another 16 years to make another movie, shortly before his untimely death in 1990.