Product Details

• Actors: Ivan Mikolajchuk, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tatyana Bestayeva, Spartak Bagashvili, Nikolai Grinko
• Directors: Sergei Parajanov
• Writers: Sergei Parajanov, Ivan Chendej, Mikhaylo Kotsyubinsky
• Format: Color, Digital Video Transfer, NTSC
• Language: Ukrainian
• Subtitles: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 16, 2000
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302969360
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,612 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #60 in

  Video > Classics > International

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In one of the most colorful, sensuous, and unorthodox films ever made in the Soviet Union, the tragic tale of two lovers separated by a family feud is stunningly re-created. Superb color photography, daring direction, and a spectacular musical score made Parajanov's impressionistic treatment of a Carpathian legend a sensation all over the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Erroneous description of this classic film, January 26, 2008

By	GR (Riverhead, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Special Edition) (1964) (Sub) (DVD)

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Special Edition) (1964) (Sub)
The information about this classic film posted by Amazon contains important errors of fact.
First of all, the film is NOT in Russian, but in UKRAINIAN.
Note to Amazon: PLEASE CORRECT THE LANGUAGE CLASSIFICATION!
Second: The story is not about "Russian regional history" as the writeup states. The Carpathian Mountains are nowhere near Russia. Its Hutsul people speak Ukrainian and are among the least russified in all of the former Soviet Union.
Third: What brought director Parajanov into conflict with communist authorities was not his prtrayal of harsh relities of Soviet life, but his stubborn insistence on filming his adaptation of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's 1911 Ukrainian-language novel in the authentic Ukrainian language of the region, and refusing to dub it into Russian.
These errors of fact mislead Amazon customers and tend to perpetuate the myth that all of the Soviet Union was Russia.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful film, bad information, January 26, 2008

By	Dr. Luba (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Special Edition) (1964) (Sub) (DVD)

I've seen this film several times, and find it powerful, beautiful moving and confusing, all at the same time. It must be experienced to be appreciated fully.

As the previous reviewer noted, the information provided by amazon is woefully inaccurate and riddled with errors. More of it is wrong than is right. The film is set in the medieval Carpathians (NOT during the 19th century). It is in Ukrainian. And it has nothing to do with "harsh realities of Russian regional history"--the Carpathian region was not a part of the Russian empire until AFTER WWII, and it neither is nor ever was ethnically Russian.

If you want accurate information about his film, I suggest you try imdb or Wikipedia instead.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Movie of All Time (so far), January 7, 2001

By	Nathan Pease (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The first time I watched this movie, I had no idea what was going on. But the imagery was so interesting, I immediately rewound the tape and watched it again. The story began to take shape during the second viewing. Since then, I have watched this movie countless times, and I am still figuring out pieces of the story. This is not an "easy" movie. It does not provide a lot of information through dialogue. Most of the information is provided through imagery which is rich and thoroughly fine. If you are looking to extend your visual vocabulary, you will learn a lot from this film. Also check out any Tarchovsky film or "I Am Cuba" for similar visual masterpieces.