The Color of Pomegranates

I just watched one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen.  The Color of Pomegranates by Sergei Parajanov depicts the life of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, but it is a far cry from a biopic.  Rather, it is a series of rather surreal images and moments, strung together to tell his life's story.  In fact, there is very little dialog at all.  We are instead left with a loose yet potent sense of this man's journey.  A woman pulls a piece of red lace over her eyes.  A boy appears on a roof filled with dozens of open, fluttering books.  A man is surrounded by a herd of ivory-colored sheep.  Music, snippets of poetry, and of course an endless stream of these magically and meticulously constructed short scenes are woven together to form a true cinematic tapestry.  In fact, I would argue that the "story" and the main character are almost besides the point.  You don't watch a film like this for story.  You watch it to become immersed in a slow, delicious swirl of sensory wonders.  Call it fever dream, call it lantern show, call it what you will.  I call it heavenly.

Comments

[John Coulthart]

I love this film, love all of Paradjanov's work. Unfortunately, the Kino DVD shown above--which I also own, incidentally--does it no service. His films really need to be reissued by someone like Criterion. I bought all the Kino Paradjanov's and they're all inferior to copies I taped from TV screenings; washed out, scratchy prints and terrible subtitles.

Sorry to blight your post with a rant but unless this release has been improved I feel people should be warned. He's one of my favourite filmmakers of all, and it was good of Kino to include a documentary on the disc, but his work really deserves better treatment. His film before this one, Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors is also essential viewing, and unlike any film by anyone else. In that he eschews the tableaux presentation of his later work for a series of very stylised scenes (some in black-and-white, others in rich colour) with some extraordinary drifting camera movements. Impossible to describe if you haven't seen it. Try and see these at a cinema.

[Pam]

Hey, John. I agree with you 100% on color. It's very uneven and I actually googled "Color of Pomegranates Criterion" myself, just to see if there were any plans. As with Prospero's Books, this seems to be another visual feast which Criterion doesn't seem to be attached to any time soon. Pretty tragic. Still, I loved the images, and after a while I just got used to the coloring. I still think it is worth viewing even in its not-ideal state. We'll just have to hope for the future.

[John Coulthart]

I should have said after my bout of spleen that at least these films are available in some form. So people who haven't experienced Paradjanov's unique art can get some idea of why he's so highly-regarded.

[Holly]

Juno Reactor used these images in their music video "God is God". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5144-MQV0bU