The Color of Pomegranates

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The Color of Pomegranates

Released Aug 29, 1968

1h 30m

Biography

Drama

Music

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Popcornmeter

94%

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17 Reviews

83%

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1,000+ Ratings

This avant-garde film depicts the life of revered the 18th-century Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova (Vilen Galstyan). Portraying events in the life of the artist from childhood up to his death, the movie addresses in particular his relationships with women, including his muse (Sofiko Chiaureli). The production tells Sayat-Nova's dramatic story by using both his poems and largely still camerawork, creating an impressionistic work.

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Kat Sachs

Chicago Reader

It feels at once specific to a certain time—presumably that of its subject, 18th-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova—but still timeless, either of all time or none with which we’d be familiar.

Jan 16, 2025

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Pat Graham

Chicago Reader

It's a strange, visionary work, highly formal and not easy of access, but compelling in a way that's almost impossible to describe.

May 21, 2014

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Keith Phipps

AV Club

Paradjanov scares up one startling sequence after another, crafting a bizarre mosaic of Nova's world while limiting himself to the materials of the poet's time.

Jul 25, 2006

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Steve Warren

Bay Area Reporter

Some once-trendy editing tricks are annoying now, but sound, music, and color are used brilliantly.

Mar 29, 2023

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

As a visual exercise, it's a dazzling achievement, filmed in a manner that's almost impossible to describe.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 29, 2021

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

The visual tapestry of The Color of Pomegranates, set to the spoken poetry of Sayat-Nova, is what makes it unforgettable as a surrealist anomaly.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 25, 2020

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Audience Member

The Color of Pomegranates, originally known as Sayat-Nova, is a 1969 Soviet Armenian art film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov. The film is a poetic treatment of the life of 18th-century Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat-Nova. The film is now regarded as a landmark in film history and was met with widespread acclaim among filmmakers and critics. It is often considered one of the greatest films ever made. Although the film is highly praised, Vision thought the film lacked the film category. It looked more like an educational, ceremonial or travellers documentary. The sets were amazing, along with the costumes and themes but the actors looked displaced, which gives rise to why the film actually looks like a travellers guide to Armenia. Madonna's 1995 music video Bedtime Story restages some content from the movie. Lady Gaga's "911" music video released in September 2020 is openly influenced by the movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/25

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David B

It isn’t really a film, just a series of very pretty scenes with no real discernible plot. It got old very quickly, after about the fifth scene of people just standing around making strange arm gestures while annoying sounds play in the background.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/26/24

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Audience Member

Call me picky but I like to be entertained by films. This isn't film at all, it's just 80 minutes of moving art and it is indescribably boring. Beautiful colour palette though.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

Not without taking an academic deep dive into Armenian history, culture and superstition, Christian symbolism, the life of national figure poet Sayat-Nova ("King of Songs", 1712-1795), and the sometimes troubled, sometimes mischievous life and times of the film's maker, Sergei Parajanov. Without all of that in tow, sitting through this film amounts to looking at a most ornate, impenetrable motion slide show; one with a deduced narrative built upon a soil of old-world metaphor set to atonal sitar music.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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s r

1001 movies to see before you die. An original film to say the least. Bizarre visuals and a slow narrative really similar this up, but it was worth seeing for its artistic direction. It was on daily motion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Stellar woven textiles, karpets, nimble greetings and prepossessing blinks moralize Sayat-Nova's tableaus in vibrating alto tootles. Being an ageless subversion of cinema, it's an indecipherably celestial film that keeps on giving no matter how much time you put into it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Sergey Paradzhanov

Director

M. Aleksanian

Poet as a child

Vilen Galstyan

Poet in the cloister

Georgi Gegechkory

Poet as an old man

Onik Minasyan

Prince

Sofiko Chiaureli

Poet as a Youth

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Synopsis

This avant-garde film depicts the life of revered the 18th-century Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova (Vilen Galstyan). Portraying events in the life of the artist from childhood up to his death, the movie addresses in particular his relationships with women, including his muse (Sofiko Chiaureli). The production tells Sayat-Nova's dramatic story by using both his poems and largely still camerawork, creating an impressionistic work.

Director: Sergey Paradzhanov
Screenwriter: Sergey Paradzhanov
Distributor: International Film Exchange Ltd.
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 29, 1968, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 3, 2019
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Mono

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