Color of the Pomegranate (1968)

March 24, 2010 · Posted in Armenian Movies, Drama | Share

AKA: Color of Pomegranates
Original title: Sayat Nova
Year: 1968
Runtime: 1 hour, 18 minutes
Country: Soviet Union
Language: Armenian
Subtitles: English (hard-subbed)
Genre: Drama | Biography

Director: Sergei Parajanov

Cast: Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Aleksanyan, Vilen Galstyan, Giorgi Gegechkori, Spartak Bagashvili, Medea Djaparidze, Hovhannes Minasyan, Onik Minasyan

Plot/Synopsis:

One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century, Sergei Parajanov’s “Color of the Pomegranate”, a biography of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (King of Song) reveals the poet’s life more through his poetry than a conventional narration of important events in Sayat Nova’s life. We see the poet grow up, fall in love, enter a monastery and die, but these incidents are depicted in the context of what are images from Sergei Parajanov’s imagination and Sayat Nova’s poems, poems that are seen and rarely heard. Sofiko Chiaureli plays 6 roles, both male and female, and Sergei Parajanov writes, directs, edits, choreographs, works on costumes, design and decor and virtually every aspect of this revolutionary work void of any dialog or camera movement.