Sofiko Chiaureli, M. Aleksanian, V. Galstian, O. Minasian, G. Gegechkori, Spartak Baghashvili. Originally released as a motion picture in 1969. Includes the Armenian version of the film, also known as Parajanov's cut. Full screen (1.37:1). "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."--Opening screens. Features: New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna; New audio commentary featuring critic, filmmaker and festival programmer Tony Rayns; The Color of Armenian Land, a rarely seen 1969 documentary by Mikhail Vartanov featuring footage of director Sergei Parajanov at work; New video essay on the film's symbols and references, featuring scholar James Steffen; New interview with Steffan detailing the production of the film; Documentaries from 1977 and 2003 on Armenian poet Sayat-Nova and Parajanov: The Last Film, a 2015 experimental short documentary by Martiros M. Vartanov; New English subtitle translation; An essay by Ian Christie.
Summary:
"A breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography, and cinema, Sergei Parajanov's masterwork overflows with unforgettable images and sounds. In a series a tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, The Color of Pomegranites revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film's tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov's original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema's most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty"--Container.
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