Customer Reviews

The Color of Pomegranates

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Color of Pomegranates is one of the most beautiful films ever made, but Kino Video's now legendary poor DVD transfers mean that all of the colours merge into a slushy brown. there is heavy pixellation, too, another sign that the transfer was hurried and done cheaply. It is almost immoral that they should have the rights to release this film but it seems that they are not capable of taking this responsibility seriously. I love DVDs, but this makes me want to cry - not because I wasted my money (which I did) but because a work of art has been treated so badly. The VHS copy I own is of much higher quality. Do yourself a favour, save yourself some money and buy the VHS version. If you love this film, then write to contact@kino.com to complain - not that you will get a response.

I first saw this film on a PBS Show. It was incredible. I could not believe how beautiful, and poetic, it was.
Then I saw it in a revival theater here in Los Angeles, and again, I was overwhelmed at the power of this film.
Finally, my dream is realized, and I buy the DVD,,,,,
OMIGOD!
The people who did the transfer of this film to DVD, should be barred from ever working in any way again on any art project.
They have absolutely no clue, what they are doing.
The source of the DVD seemed to be an old print that was left in the sun for the last 25 years.
It is a travesty.
DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!
and I love the film.
DO NOT ENCOURAGE THESE PEOPLE, THEY MIGHT DO MORE HARM!

Kino has finally released THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES on DVD, together with Ron Holloway's documentary film PARADJANOV: A REQUIEM. I previously reviewed the VHS version of POMEGRANATES, so rather than discuss the content, I'll restrict my comments to the quality of the DVD presentation for that film.

The video transfer for THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES doesn't look bad, especially with the enhanced sharpness of the DVD format, bringing out details and textures that weren't as clear before. Clearly, DVD is the way to go here. Having seen the film in a stunning 35mm print recently, I suspect that the video transfer could be a lot better. Certainly, the Japanese and British videocassettes of the film have richer color. However, to be fair, THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES has a complicated production and preservation history.

From what I understand, the so-called "Director's Cut" (which is in fact just the official Armenian release version) doesn't survive in the original negative. The camera negative was cut to make the Russian version re-edited by Sergei Yutkevitch. This probably explains why the prints I've seen of the Russian version have better color. The version which Kino has released, while it's not quite as strong visually, is clearly closer to what Paradjanov originally intended in terms of content. On the positive side, Kino's video is "windowboxed," meaning that there are black bars around the edges of the film, assuring that you see the maximum possible picture from the original frame. The short film "Hakob Hovnatanian," included as an extra on the DVD, is windowboxed as well.

The accompanying documentary film PARADJANOV: A REQUIEM is a mixed bag. Director Ron Holloway combines an interview with Paradjanov with footage from Paradjanov's films, providing a basic overview of his work. Paradjanov loved to show off in front of the camera and speaks in a forthright manner, making him a great interview subject, even if you have to take some of what he says with a grain of salt. For American viewers, one of the virtues of this documentary is its clips from Paradjanov's rarely-seen Ukrainian films made before SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS, as well as the unfinished project KIEV FRESCOES.

The downside is that the documentary has numerous factual errors and is sloppily put together at times. At one point, when Paradjanov is talking about ASHIK KERIB, Holloway confusingly inserts footage of THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES. At another point Holloway states (roughly) "Fragments are all that remain of HAKOB HOVNATANIAN and KIEV FRESCOES." This is simply not true. "Hakob Hovnatanian" is a one-reel documentary short, and it survives in its complete form. The surviving material for KIEV FRESCOES is a fifteen minute short, complete with a soundtrack, which Paradjanov himself had edited together from the screen tests to show officials when he was trying to make the film, a kind of sketch to suggest the overall look and feel of the finished product. Paradjanov never got to produce the actual film, but the short survives in its entirety. A little more fact checking on Holloway's would have helped. Still, the documentary is worth seeing on the whole. The visual quality is just fine for films of this type.

Kino's DVD of THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES may not be perfect, but it's more than acceptable, and it's a good deal with the added bonus of the documentary film.

Arguably the best movie with images in cinematography, Parajanov's "The Color of a Pomegranate" depicts inner life and spiritual quest of Haroutyun Sayadian known as Sayat Nova, Armenian ashough (troubadour). Parajanov takes us through the set of images from Armenian everyday life: wedding at the church, lamb sacrifice, bath house, where a child begins his discovery of the female body... Like enriched colors on a canvas, Sayat Nova's life is presented in images from his childhood work as an apprentice to departing his home and becoming an ashough. Parajanov draws each scene of the movie like a painter with a colorful palette. "Krak es doo, sev e qo hagine"- the lines that repeat time and time again from Sayat Nova's poetry. It's a song about love and about death.

What is this? Life of a famous troubadour as Parajanov sees it... or simply his own memories... Yes, it can be and it is widely accepted as one of the most colorful masterpieces in cinematography. But I believe this movie can be felt only by those who have been exposed to the Armenian life and to those who know how symbolic to our nation the colors of pomegranates are...

On a more historical note: the movie was shot in 1969 and was originally called "Sayat Nova". Before releasing, Soviet censure cut about 30 minutes from the movie. Parajanov was later lamenting that the work of his life is lost forever. Shortly after coming to the big screen, Parajanov suffered a lot of accusations for portraying religious and alternative thoughts throughout his movie. "Color of Pomegranates" was banned, and Parajanov was sent to the prison for a few years. Such was the life of one of the greatest talents in cinematography...

Imagine a Byzantine mosaic slowly coming to life. . . . That's the closest I, or anyone else, can come to describing Sergei Paradjanov's *The Color of Pomegranates*, one of the most beautiful, aesthetically severe, and difficult films ever put to the screen. The putative subject of the movie is Armenia's national poet, Sayat Nova, but that would be of interest to Armenians only, I suspect. The rest of us will be stunned by Paradjanov's unmitigated audacity, his shocking originality. It's not going too far to say that this film provides the purest example in cinematic history of the director as "auteur". *Pomegranates* is ONE filmmaker's vision, ONE filmmaker's very dreams come to wondrous life. Essentially a painter using a modern-day art-form like the movies, Paradjanov hangs his film before us like a painting. It's as flat as a canvas, and as two-dimensional as a pre-Renaissance Gothic triptych. The "actors" occasionally move about like puppets attached to unseen strings. There is virtually no dialogue, and the few title cards that mark the passage of the poet's life are generally unhelpful to the uninitiated. What the movie basically proves more than anything else is that our concept of what a movie can be is dictated by our own storytelling styles, our own traditions, and our own fierce fondness for ourselves. If you're willing to broaden your perspectives, and if you're willing to have your notions of aesthetic values redefined, then *The Color of Pomegranates* will be an invigorating challenge for you. All others are advised to steer right clear. .... The better-colored version everyone here is clamoring for is the "sanitized", officially-approved-by-the-Soviet-Union version. THIS version is the version that Paradjanov intended for us to see. Unfortunately, there's no original negative to be found; hence the substandard print. Six-of-one, half-dozen-of-the-other, in terms of what you'd rather see -- the prettier cut, or the "director's cut". Kino elected to give us the director's cut. I think they've done us a great service, here. ...

In my opinion the dvd is quite good, it is a miracle that Paradjanov's troubled masterpiece even survived. I agree that the video transfer could have been better but one must remember the bad conditions and problems the film went through. I disagree with the reviewer from Texas who is very negative himself/herself but claims that comments of paradjanov website are negative and I believe the website's point is most appropriate. As far as translation, I find nothing awkward with singular translation of "pomegranate" plus if Paradjanov intended it that way then why modify his title. This is one of my favorite films and I hope more people will see it.

This really is an absolutely extraordinary film, all the more so when one considers the conditions under which Sergei Paradjanov made it. While it is true to say that the pace of the film is slow and its plot inscrutable there is no denying the absolute genius and vision of its director. It is hard to compare this film to any other but for me I would quote what Stanley Kubrick once said when asked to explain the meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey to a film critic - "Sometimes the truth of a thing is not so much in the think of it, but in the feel of it". This is how I would approach a film like The Color of Pomegranates for the first time, do not attempt to understand or extract meaning from it straight away but let the film's amazing visual dynamism sink into your sub-consciousness and marvel at the sheer audacity of the director's non-conventional approach to film making. It is such a terrible shame that this amazing artist (for Sergei Paradjanov was not just a film-maker) was harassed and imprisoned on false charges by the Soviet authorities for much of his adult life and denied the ability bring more of his unique visions to life but perhaps such hardships made him utilise his artistic gifts all the more when confronted by such oppression.

Anybody who enjoys this film should also seek out his other films that are widely available for viewing, namely Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1964), The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984) and Ashik Kerib (1988) for we are lucky to have these few masterpieces of his.

I have only viewed this film on Kino's DVD version so I cannot compare it with any other versions. However, this is the version of the film Paradjanov intended for us to see and in my opinion is preferable even if the print might not be as good a print as the version that was cut/censored and which Paradjanov disowned. It is fortunate that an original print was recovered at all and is now available for us to see. Hopefully a version will be issued someday that will restore the quality of the original print.

As for the argument to the literal translation of the title in the previous reviews I had thought that the original title of the film was "Sayat Nova" and that the title was changed to "The Color of Pomegranate(s)" when the film was cut/censored and that somehow this is the title that has stuck. Either way I have no problems calling the film by either title.

This film is a work of art and should be on permanent viewing in an art gallery. It might not be for everybody but you won't know unless you give it a chance.

Its unfortunate that there are some bad reviews of this DVD. I suspect that KINO's bad reputation precedes them here. They are, of course, well-known for dishing out a terrible print and charging an arm and a leg for it. This is certainly the case with their Legend of the Suram Fortress/Ashik Kerib release. Those are inexcusably bad.

It is not true of The Color of Pomegranates. For once, KINO has done right, and the negative criticism, I think, is just plain wrong for the most part. This is a film made in the 60s in the Soviet Union by a Georgian film-maker that was cut and then later banned. The chances of a print like this surviving are pretty slim; that it has survived, and in such good condition, is a miracle.

A cleaner, less washed-out print of this film is known, and has been released on DVD in other Regions. What makes KINO's release remarkable, however, is that unlike those releases, KINO's version is Parajanov's original cut of the film, which resurfaced in the West in the 80s.

Other than the colors being a little washed, the image on this disc is extremely clean and clear. The audio suffers at bits, but it isn't terribly distracting. The only real drawback is KINO's consistent problem with burnt subtitles; its impossible to remove those gaudy yellow tags from the image. Fortunately, this is a film with very little dialogue, most of which is spoken over intertitles, so its not a huge drawback.

Beyond that, KINO deserves a lot of praise for serving up some really outstanding extras. A ten-minute short by Parajanov, "Hagop Hovnatanian" is included, also looking quite nice. The short consists mostly of still-photography of paintings and objects; it may have been pulled together from one of projects Parajanov was forced to abandon before Pomegranates.

The second extra is an hour long film, completed just after Parajanov's death. This is worth the price alone for Parajanov fans. Most of the film is narrated by Parajanov himself, from one of his last interviews, put together beautifully with footage from his films, many of them rarely seen. I can't stress what a great documentary this is: Parajanov speaks candidly about his troubled career, his time in prison, the avant-garde in Russian film, his admiration of Dovzhenko and Pasolini ("he is a god to me"), and much more.

Anyway, pick this up without reservation. Credit where credit is due: KINO has put together a great disc here.

One really has to dig VERY deep into the metaphorical bag to be able to convincingly say that there are homoerotic undertones to this film. And yes, there is a decapitated ram in one scene, but for all one knows, it could have been a nice piece of taxidermy work. But I suppose anyone touchy enough to be offended at that would find taxidermy itself offensive. Anyway, that's not to say that Color of Pomegranates is for everyone. It's slow, so you need a good attention span, and its compositions are eclectic and mysterious, so you also need a good sense for the mysterious and the beautiful. It doesn't follow a typical narrative structure, so those looking for something to hold on to will be left lost. Mostly, Color is a love letter to Armenia; its culture, religion, language, literature, etc. However, it is also a glimpse into the wonderful mind-world of Paradjanov. Those familiar with Armenia and its culture are likely to be at a loss to categorise this film as well, and will have to sit back with the rest of us and let Paradjanov's dazzling imagery sink in like a fine wine.
I wish Kino would do a better job with their DVD transfers. It's better than the VHS tape, but really, they could have cleaned the film up considerably, as well as offered some special features. The Paradjanov documentary is nice, though it's really presented more as two films on one DVD, rather than as a special feature. Removable subtitles and a new translation would have been nice, too. Kino really needs to give these to Criterion to see what they can dig up. I'm sure it would be spectacular, as usual.

Parajanov.com is such a negative reviewer, and is very picky. Color of POMEGRANATE does not translate well in english. It's obvious this is not your first language, so don't make translation suggestions if you aren't experienced. In English, when a color's name is directly ascribed to a common item, rather than given a direct name, that item's plural is used. This is different in other languages, where that item's singular is often used. Thus the title "Color of Pomegranate," while more true to the original language, is awkward compared to the correct English rendition of "Color of Pomegranates."
Chill out and take some translation courses!

I feel conflicted about this film, which is an exploration of the life of Armenian poet Sayat Nova. There are some beautiful scenes here, but I felt excluded by the extremely stylized portrayal of the poet's life. Instead of presenting a sense of his life, we get a series of set pieces that may well have profound meaning to someone who is an expert on Nova, but tells a less expert audience rather little. One of the reviewers noted that only an Armenian could really understand the movie. Hopefully this would also include people who deeply studied Armenia. Even so, I think he or she has a point. Of course, one could watch this movie purely as an exercise in formalism, but I feel that point of view is rather sterile. A commentary track by someone who knows Nova's work would have added a great deal. I was also frustrated by the lack of translation in many places, particularly of the prayers. I don't know if the translation was done under the Soviets, but I can't think of any other reason not to translate prayers, which make up a lot of the dialogue.

Issues of translation are especially problematic in Paradjanov: A Requiem, which is nearly all in Russian, which I know. There are quite a few places where the translation is simply incorrect. For example, Paradjanov says of a film that it would be for a great German, which the subtitles give as a grown-up German. That's like calling the founder of St. Petersburg Peter the Grownup rather than Peter the Great. There are many gaps in the translation as well. It seems to be a sloppy rush job.

The short feature Hagop Hovnatanian, which explores the life of a nineteenth-century Armenian artist, is my favorite of all the pieces on the DVD. The Russian intertitles aren't translated, though. It begins by saying "Tiflis [now Tbilisi] of the 19th Century," but if you don't know Russian, I guess you're not going to get any help. Clearly there are problems with translation throughout this DVD, which I think is the weakest of those in the box set.