Sergei Paradjanov
SERGEI PARAJANOV or PARADJANOV (born Sarkis Paradjanian ; 1924-1990) was one of the best known directors of Soviet films. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to an Armenian family, his work reflected the ethnic diversity of the Caucusus where he was raised. His first major work was "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (1964), which earned him an international reputation for its rich use of costume and color, and its whimsical portrayal of rural life. Possibly his greatest work, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), described the life of the Armenian poet Sayat Nova. The film angered the Soviet authorities, who claimed that it evoked nationalist sentiment. Claiming that Paradjanov, who was bisexual, promoted homosexuality, the government arrested him in 1973 and sentenced him to five years in a labor camp. A large number of prominent artists, writers and filmmakers protested his sentence, but Paradjanov was only released four years later, in large part due to the efforts of the French surrealist Louis Aragon. He was banned for making films for many years afterwards, when he was living in Tbilisi, but he was allowed to make The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984), which captured much of the color of his earlier work. He managed to direct three more films before he died of cancer in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1990.
Filmography
- Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) (segment "The Confession")
- Ashugi Qaribi (1988) ... aka Ashik Kerib (1988) (Soviet Union: Russian title)
- Arabeskebi Pirosmanis temaze (1985) ... aka Arabesques on the Pirosmani Theme (1985)
- Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa (1984) ... aka Legend of the Suram Fortress, The (1984)
- Sayat Nova (1968) ... aka Color of Pomegranates (1968) (USA)
- Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967)
- Tini zabutykh predkiv (1964) ... aka Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1967) (USA)
- Tsvetok na kamne (1962) ... aka Flower on the Stone (1962)
- Ukrainskaya rapsodiya (1961) ... aka Ukrainian Rhapsody (1961)
- Pervyj paren (1959) ... aka First Lad, The (1959)
- Dumka (1957)
- Natalya Ushvij (1957)
- Zolotye ruki (1957) ... aka Golden Hands (1957)
- Andriyesh (1954)
- Moldovskaya skazka (1951)
See also
External links
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