Sofiko Chiaureli

  • Sergei Parajanov – Sayat Nova aka Tsvet granata aka The Color of Pomegranates [Yutkevich cut] (1969)

    1961-1970EpicSergei ParajanovUSSR

    Quote:
    Soviet censors and Communist Party officials objected to Parajanov’s stylized, poetic treatment of Sayat-Nova’s life and complained that it failed to educate the public about the poet. As a result, the film’s title was changed from Sayat-Nova to The Color of Pomegranates, and all references to Sayat-Nova’s name were removed from the credits and chapter titles in the original Armenian release version. The Armenian writer Hrant Matevosyan wrote new, abstractly poetic Armenian-language chapter titles. Officials further objected to the film’s abundance of religious imagery, although a great deal of religious imagery still remains in both surviving versions of the film. Initially the State Committee for Cinematography in Moscow refused to allow distribution of the film outside of Armenia. It premiered in Armenia in October 1969, with a running time of 77 minutes.Read More »

  • Henrik Malyan – Ktor me yerkinq AKA A Piece of Sky AKA A Slap in the Face (1980)

    1971-1980ArmeniaComedyHenrik MalyanRomance

    A Piece of Sky is a 1980 Soviet comedy film directed by Henrik Malyan, based on Vahan Totovents’s story “Light Blue Flowers”. It is a societal critique told through the love story between Torik, a shy outcast janitor, and Anjel, a prostitute.Read More »

  • Sergei Parajanov & Dodo Abashidze – Ashug-Karibi aka The Hoary Legends of the Caucasus (1988)

    Drama1981-1990ArthouseDodo AbashidzeGeorgiaSergei ParajanovUSSR

    Synopsis:
    Wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib falls in love with a rich merchant’s daughter, but is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights – but not before he’s got the daughter to promise not to marry till his return. It’s told in typical Paradjanov style, in a series of visually ravishing ‘tableaux vivants’ overlaid with Turkish and Azerbaijani folksongs.Read More »

  • Sergei Parajanov – Sayat Nova AKA The Color of Pomegranates (1968)

    1961-1970ArthouseClassicsSergei ParajanovUSSR

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Quote:
    The work of painter, musician, mystic and filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov (1924-1990) constantly defies categorisation. His films are notable for their lyrical inspiration and great aesthetic beauty, but riled the Soviet authorities to such an extent that Paradjanov faced constant harrassment throughout his life. Like his earlier film, Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1965), The Colour of Pomegranates was banned…
    Ostensibly a biopic of rebellious 18th century Armenian poet Sayat Nova, The Colour of Pomegranates follows the poet’s path from his childhood wool-dying days to his role as a courtier and finally his life as a monk. But Armenian director Sergei Paradjanov warns us from the start that this is no ordinary biopic: “This is not a true biography,” he has his narrator state during the opening credits.Read More »

Back to top button