DVD RELEASES: ‘THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES’ (RE-RELEASE)
Joe Walsh
Cine-Vue
Aug 29, 2011
Armenian director Sergi Paradjanov’s The Colour of Pomegranates
(1968), starring Sofiko Chiaureli, is not what you would call a
traditionally entertaining film. A more appropriate set of terms
would be, intriguing, intelligent and challenging. The film does not
possess a conventional plot, although it loosely follows the life of
19th Century Armenian bard Sagat Nova.
The Colour of Pomegranates is a metaphysical, surrealist exploration
of the poets mind and works. Interestingly the film was made as
part of the 200th anniversary of Nova’s birth in 1969 and received
Soviet backing.
Potential viewers should be warned that this is a film that you have
to dedicate yourself to. I would however argue that if you engage with
the film on its own terms you will be richly rewarded and accept that
you may need to watch the film more than once to come to terms with it.
The Colour of Pomegranates is divided into eight chapters, or
tableaux’s, that take the viewer on a journey through the three
stages of Nova’s life. The film, rather unsurprisingly from the title,
exploits the use of vibrant colour. One of the most beautiful scenes
can be viewed early on when pomegranate juice bleeds through a rich
cream cloth. Throughout the film Paradjanov compares and contrasts
colour to create magnificent, rich scenes.
Distinctive to Paradjanov is his understanding of objects and their
relationship to one another. Paradjanov belonged to a group of Eastern
European directors who experimented with ‘Poetic Cinema,’ this form
of cinema replaces words with striking images creating a language
unique to film but equally (if not more so) informative. It makes
a huge amount of sense that Paradjanov was attracted to the subject
of Sagat Nova as it provided an opportunity to experiment with the
relationship of literature to film.
Paradjanov also stressed that whilst The Colour of Pomegranates is an
unconventional biography of Nova it was also largely autobiographical.
In fact Sofiko Chiaureli who plays several roles throughout the film
that cross genders including that of Nova, provides not only a dream
like quality to the film but reflects Parajanov’s sexual identity; he
was imprisoned for homosexual acts with a KGB agent in the early 60’s.
Paradjanov like to experiment with mime and theatre in his work and
this is clearly evident from watching The Colour of Pomegranates.
Theatrical devices are exploited again and again to weave together
elements that reoccur throughout the eight chapters. In the end
the result is a magnificent surrealist dream that throws you into a
tapestry of ideas that emerge from both Paradjanov and Nova’s life
and works.
The Colour of Pomegranates is a true masterpiece of cinema that
takes the concept of the biographical film one leap further and is a
work that stands the test of time being as fresh as the year it was
released forty-two years ago.
The version of The Colour of Pomegranates available on this DVD is the
Russian edit, featuring Russian language in the dividing chapters. The
other version is known as the Armenian edit, neither can claim to be
the director’s cut, the production story, which is too complex to go
into in this review, is fascinating and can be explored in the DVD’s
special features.