Director Sergei Paradjanov made a practice of making highly idiosyncratic films based on the folklore of regions in the former Soviet Union. In 1969 he made this film, based in part on the life of the 18th-century Armenian poet, Sayat Nova ('The King of Song'). Renowned for his writings and his religious lifestyle, Sayat Nova became a martyr when he grew too influential for the authorities to control. Seriously out of favor with Soviet governmental bureaucrats, this film was not seen in the
international arena until 1977. Then, The Color of Pomegranates was widely acclaimed for its poetic and non-narrative blending of historical and biographical Armenian imagery. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
not just some mad collection of pretty pictures, but a poetic and ethnographic evocation of Armenian religion, culture and society, told through the prism of the nation's most celebrated troubadour and his songs.
Paradjanov scares up one startling sequence after another, crafting a bizarre mosaic of Nova's world while limiting himself to the materials of the poet's time.
As much as I can recognize the obvious effort and specific intent that went into the film, I am at a complete loss to comprehend what exactly it's trying to say to me.
I'm sorry art world. I get it...but maybe you're just not for me.
February 21, 2009
Jared H
Super Reviewer
it's beautiful and unique for sure, and I get the gist of the events in the film. I just don't really care for it. Very similar to Blood of a Poet in terms of technique and subject. Not really my type of aesthetic.
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