FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Sergei Parajanov - The Colour of Pomegranates 

Pictures like they were never to be seen again in the history of the film! With Sayat Nova, the Armenian director Sergei Parajanov has created something like the holy grail of cinema! Sure, the masterpiece from 1969 is not missing in any highscore list - but this restored DVD version makes it possible to enjoy Sayat Nova with regenerated attention! Four years after Parajanov had finished his poem about the troubador of the same name like a puzzle, the Soviet authorities arrested him. The director was born in 1924 in Armenia/Georgia. He began as a musician, but studied in Moscow in the golden 20s film - at a time when anything seemed possible in revolutionary Soviet cinema. When he was "accused" of homosexuality he had to go to prison for the first time. Again and again he refused the accusation, he also got married later. Nevertheless this arrest can be regarded as the key for his movie. Finally his wife was murdered and it was suspected that her own brother was responsible. Parajanov experienced an enlightenment with Tarkovsky's acquaintance - the role model became his mentor. All this has a style-forming effect. Parajanov's films show the culture of Armenia apart from what the authorities wanted. World Cinema! He combined this with his role models from the 20s and created his own virtuoso world of images. Parajanov's increasing success was unpleasant for the Soviets. Here stood an imprisoned - but internationally acclaimed director - and Sayat Nova simply continued to spread via pirated copies! A work that functions on the one hand as Nova's poetic biography, but also as the director's encrypted self-confession. Anyone looking for homoerotic elements will find what they are looking for! This terrible cycle lasted until the early 80s, when Parajanov was repeatedly arrested as a homosexual. He was only able to finish two more films before he died in 1990. To grasp Sayat Nova as a film - a thing of impossibility! A picture rush that blocks itself from beginning to end. Or is it due to my western viewing habits? But one thing remains stuck in any case: Parajanov is Armenian!