Cinema
The Colour of Pomegranates
Նռան գույնը
Sergei Parajanov · 1969
Synopsis
The life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, in the eighteenth century, is not narrated but evoked in a series of chapters made of almost motionless tableaux: childhood among books, youth, love at the prince's court, retreat to the monastery, the dream, old age. Fabrics, objects, pomegranates and ritual gestures stand in for narrative, and a single actress lends her face to several figures, from the young poet to the beloved.
Context
Shot in 1968 at Armenfilm, partly in the church of Saint John at Ardvi, in the province of Lori, the film was to be called Sayat-Nova. Goskino criticised it for its allegory, its formalism and its religious character; it was re-edited and renamed, and this version was shown in Armenia in 1969. Sergei Yutkevich then made from it, at Moscow's request, a shorter and more chronological cut, with more narrative intertitles, which was the only one distributed in the Soviet Union, then in France in 1982. The Armenian version, found in 1990, served as the basis for the restoration.
Who it is for
Less than one hour twenty. The film proceeds by tableaux and intertitles, with no plot to follow.
Prizes and reception
One million viewers in the Soviet Union; restored version presented at Cannes in 2014, on the initiative of Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation.