The Color of Pomegranates

Original title: Sayat Nova

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

15K

YOUR RATING

A surreal biopic of Armenian poet Sayat Nova, told via non-narrative amalgamations of images, hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

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The life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Haile... Read allThe life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.The life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Videos1

Trailer 0:57

Trailer

Photos89

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Storyline

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Trivia
Sergei Parajanov's 1969 masterpiece "Sayat Nova" was censored, re-cut, renamed (The Color of Pomegranates) and banned; its 1969 behind-the-scenes documentary Paradjanov: The Color of Armenian Land (1969) by Mikhail Vartanov was suppressed and the footage reappeared 20 years later in Mikhail Vartanov's influential documentary Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992), which demystified the unique film language of "Sayat Nova." Parajanov's "Sayat Nova" (The Color of Pomegranates) appeared on many lists of The Greatest Films of All Time (Sight and Sound, Cahiers du Cinema, Movieline, Time Out, etc). Mikhail Vartanov famously wrote: "Probably, besides the film language suggested by Griffith and Eisenstein, the world cinema has not discovered anything revolutionary new until (Sergei Parajanov's) Sayat Nova - The Color of Pomegranates." Michelangelo Antonioni later added that the film "astonishes with its perfection of beauty."

Quotes
Poet as a Youth: In this healthy and beautiful life my share has been nothing but suffering. Why has it been given to me?

Alternate versions
RESTORATION PROLOGUE: Two versions of this film have been restored. The Armenian version ('Parajanov's cut') was restored using the original camera negative, provided by Gosfilmofond in Russia as well as a 35mm dupe negative held by the National Cinema Centre of Armenia. The Russian version ('Sergei Yutkevic's cut') has been preserved for posterity using the original camera negative." "The editing and title cards of 'Parajanov's cut' have been reconstructed thanks to a careful analysis of all existing sources, including an Armenian reference print that matches the dupe negative." "The original camera negative has been scanned in 4K by Gosfilmofond in Russia and restored by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna. The sound restoration was made from the original magnetic track, preserved by Gosfilmofond, in addition to the Armenian reference print." "A vintage print of the film, produced on Orwo stock and preserved by the Harvard Film Archive, was used to guide the grating phase." "At the time of the film's release, the Russian censors decided that the film did not reflect Sayat Nova's life and renamed the film 'NRAN GUYNE' which translates to 'THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES.' Despite this intervention, the film remains internationally recognized by Parajanov's original title SAYAT NOVA."

Connections
Featured in Paradjanov: The Color of Armenian Land (1969)

User reviews65

Review

Featured review

Visually stunning but somewhat boring

The film is, of course, filled with surreal and fantastical imagery. Clearly brimming with spiritual and cultural meaning and the film takes us through the life of the poet. The films music and sound also adds to this almost dreamlike atmosphere. You let the words and sounds wash over you whilst the images play out in front of you. However, even the most beautiful images lose their magic when viewed through glazed eyes.

Unfortunately there is no getting away from it, this film is hard to maintain concentration with. Now this is through design. It isn't intended as a biopic of the poets life, but more as an abstract biopic of the poets work. Every image on screen is great, usually vibrant and surreal. The issue is that as there isn't really a plot/story, there's nothing to keep you engaged, so you end up just looking at a series of images. Again, whilst all are fantastic, they lose their magic quickly and they aren't in service to anything, aside from the allegorical/metaphorical/symbolic meaning (although lots of the symbolic meaning isn't very difficult to grasp).

So whilst visually beautiful and defiantly unique, if you don't have patience or require some form of story you may be better off watching Jodorowsky films instead.

PS This is only my first viewing, so my opinion may change if I see it again. Issue is that it was too dull to warrant a second viewing, although short.