Hndzan

Imagine taking the protagonist of a Charles Dickens novel and placing him in a Dostoevsky novel, all while speaking Armenian...

"Hndzan" is an Armenian film from the Soviet era, with Andrei Tarkovsky as its creative director and co-writer.

A train, the unspoken dreams of a child, poverty-and I mean real poverty-a railroad track, and grapes that must be crushed for wine.

In my opinion, Armenian cinema lost its cinematic language after the collapse of the USSR. I wish they would put aside the jingoistic works they are currently producing and return to their factory settings... though there are no artists left who are Armenian and living in Armenia.

It is very difficult to find a decent copy of the film. The version uploaded to YouTube is 3 minutes short and has been redubbed. They also ruined the image of the DVD release by doing an Auto Pan Scan.

Most likely, the original records in the state archives were damaged after the collapse of the USSR. That's why the film was redubbed in Armenian, and this renewal is very evident when watching it.

The way war/politics causes such deep destruction in works of art and literature has always saddened me.