The Color of Pomegranates
1969
Directed by Sergei Parajanov
This is one of those films that very few people get and the ones that claim to are often suspected of being pretentious posers. It is not exact an appealing spectrum to fall on. I happen to land on the idiot rating, I think, since I have no idea what that was and have no desire to see it again.
Apparently, this is the life story of a poet. At least, that is what I read this film is about. I never would have come to that conclusion by myself, since there is absolutely no plot structure. I suppose that there is no denying that some of the images are beautiful. There is also no denying that a film like this will bore most people to tears.
I didn't find any of the scenes particularly interesting; at least with something like Un Chien Andalou the images kept my attention. Totally skippable.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
Banned in the Soviet Union.
MMmmm Yes.. Err...
ReplyDeleteI like to learn of new culture and what they represent.. mean etc..
I had never heard of the poet .. and I'm afraid after seeing this film I still know nothing of him, what he means, how he (I guess) speaks for the Armenian people..)
As you say, visually stunning... but .. Sorry, for what purpose?
Was this film deliberately obscure.. or is it cultural difference we are not understanding? Can the average Armenian shop worker know what it is about and be moved by this film.. or are they scratching their heads as well?
As with so many.. I feel it is my loss for 'not getting it'. Yes, sorry, i was bored and sat through it purely out of obligation. What a shame.
But I still defend the place films like this have in The Book...
That is a great point about the average Armenian shop worker. And you are right, it was super boring.
DeleteI fall into the idiot group as well. I got a feeling it is a fairly large group...
ReplyDeleteI thought this was rather fabulous. No idea what it was about and even the director said it would make no sense if you didn't know the background, but fabulous nonetheless. Quite a long way conceptually from what I think any of us considered a "movie" to be when we started on The List though.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of the video to Losing My Religion, which I read that it influenced.