Cinema
Autumn Sun
Աշնան արև
Bagrat Hovhannisyan · 1977
Synopsis
Agoun, a peasant woman from a mountain village, difficult in character, prepares the gifts for the wedding of her favourite son, Armenak, gives her last orders to the younger one and sets off with her husband towards the Yerevan road. All along the way, she looks back over her life: an orphan married at fifteen to a man she did not know and did not love, she gave everything to her family, and the clashes with her husband and sons have piled up over the years.
Context
The screenplay is by Hrant Matevosyan himself, based on his short story La Mère va marier son fils. The direction is co-credited to Hakob Iskoudarian; Karen Messian and Gaguik Avakian handle the camera, Tigran Mansourian composes the music, and Anahit Ghoukassian plays Agoun, with Karen Djanibekian and Azat Cherents. Matevosyan had already written the screenplay for the director's first short film, in 1969, and they worked together again in 1983. The film was presented in Yerevan on 3 November 1977, in Moscow only in June 1980.
Who it is for
One hour twenty-three minutes, in Armenian, subtitled. The narrative combines the mother's journey and memories of her life.
Prizes and reception
One hundred thousand viewers in the Soviet Union; shown at the Centre Pompidou in 1993, during the retrospective of Armenian cinema.