Customer Reviews

Ashik Kerib [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Visually, this is the most stunning film I have seen. It conflates the art of narrative and the art of the tableau--like the friezes Keats describes in "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Of course, the figures move--the subject is a romance, a quest. But the plot seems less important than the lyricism--a lyricism which includes, and yet extends beyond the visual. One feels the heartbreaking love of the director for a world half imagined, half real. The real basis of the world portrayed was largely destroyed by the Soviet Regime (and the general march of modernity). This too is present--a portion of the mysterious emotional impact. "Ashik Kerib" is an Oriental fairy tale, an esoteric protest, a song, a poem--an unforgettable work of art.

Now I know there are too many reviews on Amazon that give 5 stars to every worthless item like your favorite sci-fi book the one you read in 3rd grade with the neat kinds of invading alien vehicles years later you discovered was copped right out of H.G. Wells . . . but sincerely, REALLY, this is a film unlike any you have seen before or since.... I first saw the beginning 15 minutes of this film in art school stupidly high after lunch break and was completely blown away. Most of the shots have this uniquely flat compostion to them which combined with the colorful costumes and general extravagance in everything make this less of a movie than a puppetshow or moving painting. And so much of the effect would be less without the incredible music . . . it is almost like watching a silent movie there is so little dialogue. --Of course my teacher only had the KINO copy, which if you read the reviews for their version you will get an idea how bad it is. Well, let me tell you, the difference cannot be overstated. Here I have finally gotten a hold of the RUSICO DVD and it is everything I hoped it would be. First of all, you now actually have the option of subtitles. And the colors before were so basic everything was in primaries -- now the picture is so much more intricate and detailed. My only complaint is to the Special Features, where the documentary on Paradzhanov (the director) lacks the option of English. But the film is even more fantastic than ever. I can't begin to single out one favorite scene. The part where Kerib's mother thinks he is dead and goes blind, and the camera moves back until it rustles the bushes is just as fine choreography as Fellini or Tarkovsky, who are much better known. But then, nearly every shot is literally "picture-perfect", -- as I said, every frame worthy of a painting. The part where Kerib faces the strange tiger with the spinning head . . . is surprising, funny, disturbing, surreal, all at the same time, -- perfection. All this is not to give the impression this is a "highbrow", utterly inaccessible film either. There's nothing intellectual or aloof about this, -- in fact I'd try to summarize by calling it eye-candy without the guilt.

This was the final film of Sergei Paradjanov, one of the greatest (and most unseen) filmmakers from the former USSR. Despite making only a handful of pictures in his entire career, he still managed to remain an artist and he never lost his touch. This film is one of his most mesmerizing films, and it's one of the most strikingly beautiful films ever made.

The film is based on an Armenian folk tale about a poor minstrel who has to find a fortune before he can marry his true love. The film is told in typical Paradjanov style, ellipitcal, non-linear, and told mainly through music and imagery. But what imagery! And what music! Paradjanov surpasses himself here, weaving some of his most spellbinding images in any of his work, and the soundtrack is one of the most unique in cinema history. It's a shame that Paradjanov died only 2 years after making this film, and we were robbed of more films by him, but it does not diminish the film. The film bristles with life itself. It's my favourite Paradjanov film.

Sergie Paradjanov was also one of the most persecuted filmmakers in film history, possibly the most persecuted. He was very outspoken against the Soviet government, his films were celebrations of Ukrainian, Georgian, and Armenian folklore (which was a big no-no in the USSR, where nationalist tendencies were to be suppressed in favour of Russian sensibilities), and he was very vocal about whatever was on his mind. The authorties prevented him from making films for years, and when he did, they were heavily censored. In 1974, Paradjanov was sentenced on trumped up charges, including "incitement to suicide" and homosexuality (a crime in the former USSR), for 15 years. Due to international outrage and lobbying by foreign artists (including American author John Updike), he was released around 1980, but didn't make another film unitl 1984 (The Legend of Surami Fortress was that film). The authorities did not break him. He never lost his art. Paradjanov remains untouched.

This is a wonderful movie about the wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib, who undergoes a series of adventures before he can marry his love. The story is quite simple, but the images are beautiful. There are many haunting dreamlike scenes here. In some ways it could easily be a silent film, as there are intertitles and many long and medium distance shots. The important thing is not so much the actors but the scenes themselves.

One of the stars I've given is for the extras. There is a nice 24 minute biography of Sergei Paradjanov. This ties in to one of my complaints, though. In the movie there are sections of Georgian dialogue that aren't translated, which is frustrating. In the biography, which is overall nicely done, not everything is translated, but because it is in Russian I could understand it. For example, he notes that his mother used to tell him stories, one of which was Ashik Kerib, but the translation doesn't mention the title. This seems relevant, since that's the movie on the disc. Also, it means that in addition to the dedication to Tarkovsky, the movie must partly be in memory of his mother. This helps to explain a scene in which Kerib returns to his ruined house and eats an old piece of lavash, while the narrator talks about how the bread was baked by the mother.

In addition, there is a nice 12 minute biography of Mikhail Lermontov that shows the different places associated with his life. As well as providing information on Lermontov, it also gives a sense of the socialist realist paradigm and how far Paradjanov diverged from that. In general, if you really only can take realist cinema, socialist or not, Paradjanov is not for you.

Then there is an interesting 5 minute piece called "The Minstrel's Song" that gives b & w footage of the Caucasus.

This is definitely a film worth seeing.

Artistic. If it doesn't make sense to you, then your a process of elimination type of thinker. 1+1=2 etcetera. If you like to pump up your ego and challenge your perception and your left and right brain arrangement-- by all means try this film. The analogies are quite simple. But, there are some which I realized after watching a few more times. Appreciation of life, gaudy provincial governors, power and control, imaginative legends of a few thousand years ago (actual historical legend). People who are down and out of money need only friendship and a little bit of assistance is one of the analogies used, but only once. The rustic 8MM Film makes use of the non pure qualities that analog exhibited. I'm not a particular fan of analog but the higher quality digital tools are quite expensive. This film captures the relative consequences of a greedy, patriarchal influenced, and menial population. The brisk vastness of non populated areas of the Armenian or Persian landscape are reason enough to purchase the film. If you wait or fast forward the movie to almost when the ending credits are finishing, you will get a special features section. At least in the version of Ashuk Kerib Russian Version only.

it's a lovely surreal movie except the drawings are from early iranian paintings and NOT russian!