The Color of Pomegranates

The Color of Pomegranates
DVD cover
Directed by	Sergei Parajanov
Written by	Sergei Parajanov Sayat-Nova (poems)
Narrated by	Armen Dzhigarkhanyan
Starring	Sofiko Chiaureli Melkon Aleksanyan Vilen Galstyan Giorgi Gegechkori
Music by	Tigran Mansuryan
Cinematography	Suren Shakhbazyan
Editing by	Sergei Parajanov M. Ponomarenko Sergei Yutkevich
Studio	Armenfilm
Distributed by	Cosmos Film (France) Artkino Pictures (US) IFEX (US)
Release date(s)	1968
Running time	78 mins. (Armenia) 73 mins. (USSR release)
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Armenian

The Color of Pomegranates (Armenian: Սայաթ-Նովա, Sayat-Nova) is a 1968 Soviet film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov.

Overview

The Color of Pomegranates is a biography of the Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova (King of Song) that attempts to reveal the poet's life visually and poetically rather than literally. The film is presented in a form of static tableaux and depicts the poet's coming of age, discovery of the female form, falling in love, entering a monastery and dying, all framed through both Sergei Parajanov's imagination and Sayat Nova's poems. Actress Sofiko Chiaureli notably plays six roles in the film, both male and female. According to Frank Williams, Paradjanov's film celebrates the survival of Armenian culture in the teeth of oppression and persecution: "There are specific images that are highly charged — blood-red juice spilling from a cut pomegranate into a cloth and forming a stain in the shape of the boundaries of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia; dyers lifting hanks of wool out of vats in the colours of the national flag, and so on".

The director had claimed his inspiration was "the Armenian illuminated miniatures. I wanted to create that inner dynamic that comes from inside the picture, the forms and the dramaturgy of colour." Parajanov once made a speech in Minsk in which he asserted that the Armenian public very likely did not understand The Color of Pomegranates, but then said that people "are going to this picture as to a holiday".

Cast

• Sofiko Chiaureli - Poet as a Youth / Poet's Love / Poet's Muse / Mime / Angel of Resurrection
• Melkon Aleksanyan - Poet as a child (as M. Alekyan)
• Vilen Galstyan - Poet in the cloister
• Giorgi Gegechkori - Poet as an old man
• Spartak Bagashvili - Poet's father
• Medea Djaparidze - Poet's mother
• Onik Minasyan - Prince

Locations

Filmed near St.Jonn church at Ardvi village, Lori Province, Armenia.

Critical reception

Filmmaker Mikhail Vartanov has said, "besides the film language suggested by Griffith and Eisenstein, the world cinema has not discovered anything revolutionarily new until the 'Color of Pomegranates,' not counting the generally unaccepted language of the 'Andalusian Dog' by Buñuel". According to Michelangelo Antonioni, "Parajanov’s Color of Pomegranates is of a stunningly perfect beauty. Parajanov, in my opinion, is one of best film directors in the world."

Legacy

The Color of Pomegranates was referenced in the films Peter Greenaway in Indianapolis (1997) and Erased Faces II (2006).^{[citation needed]}

The Color of Pomegranates was made reference to in Madonna's Bedtime Story music video (1994). Her later work with Steven Klein in 2003 would also make reference to this film.

Clips from the movie are used in a music video for the song "God Is God" by the musical group Juno Reactor and later also by the Iranian band Kiosk.

See also

• List of films based on poems
• List of biopics

External links

• Parajanov.com
• The Color of Pomegranates at the Internet Movie Database
• The Color of Pomegranates at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Color of Pomegranates is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more] (english subtitles)
• The Color of Pomegranates at Reverse Shot Online
• Sayat Nova at YouTube