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The Enigmatic Cinematic Works of Sergei Parajanov

The Enigmatic Cinematic Works of Sergei Parajanov


### The Centennial of Sergei Parajanov: A Luminary in World Cinema Finally Gets His Due

2024 marks the centennial of Sergei Parajanov, the celebrated yet often overlooked Soviet filmmaker, known for his visually stunning, culturally rich, and deeply symbolic films. As the year draws to a close, various film institutions and festivals across the globe are honoring his life’s work through retrospectives, new film restorations, and even postage stamp releases in Armenia, paying tribute to an artistic genius whose contributions have only recently gained the recognition they deserve.

From Berlin’s Arsenal to New York’s Museum of the Moving Image, Parajanov’s distinct filmography is being celebrated at major cultural institutions. The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), New York’s Anthology Film Archives, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are all hosting screenings of his masterpieces, offering audiences a unique opportunity to experience his artistic legacy. Outside of these screenings, restorations of his early work offer a fuller picture of his creative evolution. His complex relationship with the Soviet regime, which frequently censored or repressed his films, positions Parajanov as an emblem of artistic resistance—a filmmaker whose voice refused to be silenced.

#### A Life Defined by Three Motherlands

Sergei Parajanov was a cultural chameleon. He was born to Armenian parents, raised in Georgia, and started his filmmaking career in Ukraine. In his later years, he proudly proclaimed that he had “three motherlands”—a remarkable sentiment that encapsulates both the diversity of his personal heritage and the deeply layered identity within his films. Each of his major works reflects a profound connection to the culture of the Soviet republic in which it was created: Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Even amid a regime that regularly sought to suppress his art, Parajanov managed to channel these varying cultural influences into something wholly unique.

Parajanov’s international acclaim gained momentum through a quartet of films: *Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors* (1965), *The Color of Pomegranates* (1969), *The Legend of Suram Fortress* (1985), and *Ashik Kerib* (1988). These films are noted for their unapologetically bold visual storytelling and symbolic depth. But prior to this period of relative success, Parajanov’s career was marked by years of censorship, arrests, and even imprisonment by Soviet authorities due to his bisexuality and affiliations with Ukrainian nationalism, which were considered subversive. His work was not fully appreciated during his lifetime in large part due to these sociopolitical obstacles.

#### Cinema as Poetry: The Parajanov Aesthetic

Parajanov’s approach to filmmaking is as unconventional as it is striking. His films defy categorization, blending folktales, history, and literature into cinematic tableaus that play out like poems. For instance, *The Color of Pomegranates*, widely regarded as his masterpiece, is an avant-garde biopic of the 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova. Rather than a straightforward narrative, Parajanov crafts a series of hypnotic visuals—symbolic and abstract—that evoke Sayat-Nova’s inner world and artistic spirit. The film uses color and composition in a way reminiscent of fine art, reconfiguring the biopic genre into a reflection of the poet’s mind and soul.

Though the film could be difficult for viewers unfamiliar with Sayat-Nova’s life or Armenian history, the power of Parajanov’s imagery is undeniable. Every frame could hang in an art gallery; richly layered, it invites not just one interpretation, but many. His goal was not to offer straightforward realism—instead, the director sought to express layers of meaning through symbolic forms that engage the viewer’s imagination.

*Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors*, made earlier in Parajanov’s career, tells the Ukrainian story of unrequited love and tragedy but does so with a similar dreamlike, visionary style. Though set in a rural Ukrainian village, the film feels as much like a spiritual allegory as it does a folk tale, deeply embedded in the local culture’s myths and rhythms.

#### Recognition Despite Repression: A 16-Year Gap in Filmography

One of the most tragic aspects of Parajanov’s career was the 16-year hiatus between *The Color of Pomegranates* and *The Legend of Suram Fortress*, during which he was barred from filmmaking and faced relentless state surveillance. Accused of promoting nationalism and arrested for his homosexuality, Parajanov was condemned to a Soviet prison for several years.

The story of his eventual return to filmmaking in 1985, amid the opening-up policies of *perestroika*, is a triumphant one. Though only a few short years passed between his release and his death from lung cancer in 1990, those years were enough for him to leave behind two more cinematic gems: *