Sergei Parajanov

Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. His films are known for their poetic, non-linear, and symbolic nature. Widely considered by filmmakers, film critics, and film historians to be one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, he has been described as a "magician", a "master", and a "conjurer of cinematic worlds".

Parajanov was born to Armenian parents in Tiflis, Georgian SSR. He studied at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow under the tutelage of Ukrainian filmmakers Igor Savchenko and Oleksandr Dovzhenko, and began his career as professional film director in 1954. Parajanov became increasingly disenchanted of his films as well as the state sanctioned art style of socialist realism, prominent throughout the Soviet Union. The film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965), Parajanov's first major work which diverged from socialist realism, gave him international acclaim. He would later disown and proclaim his films made before 1965 as "garbage".

The Soviet authorities claimed Parajanov was bisexual, which exposed him to increased legal scrutiny over his personal life, films, and political involvement surrounding Ukrainian nationalism. Nearly all of Parajanov's film projects from 1965 to 1973 were banned by the Soviet film administrations, many without discussion.

Biography

Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov was born to artistically inclined Armenian parents Iosif Parajanov and Siranush Bejanova on January 9, 1924, in Tiflis, known as Tbilisi since 1936, the capital of the Georgian SSR of the Soviet Union. Iosif was a merchant who owned an antique shop, trading jewelry and valuables. Due to the Soviet Union's ban on financial speculation, Iosif's business was frequently subjected to arbitrary searches by the authorities, who often raided his business and seized many of his valuables. Because it was impossible for Iosif to get his trading business legalised, a young Parajanov was often forced to swallow small jewelry pieces and defecate them once authorities withdrew from their search. Parajanov attended a local railway college before running away to attend the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. In 1945, he was transferred to the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied alongside soprano Nina Dorliak. Parajanov left the conservatory to enroll at the directing department at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography; he studied under the tutelage of Ukrainian filmmakers Igor Savchenko and Alexander Dovzhenko.

The Soviet authorities accused Parajanov of being bisexual. In 1948, he was arrested and charged with illegal homosexual acts with MGB officer Nikolai Mikava in Tbilisi. He was sentenced to five years in prison and released under an amnesty after three months. In video interviews, friends and relatives contest the truthfulness of anything Parajanov was charged with; they believe his sentencing was procured through a kangaroo court due to his tendency for political retaliation and rebellious views.

In 1950, Parajanov married Nigyar Kerimova, who came from a Muslim Tatar family, in Moscow. Nigyar's relatives, who disapproved of the marriage, murdered her after she converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Parajanov subsequently moved to Kiev, where he produced a few Russian- and Ukrainian-language documentaries (Dumka, Golden Hands, Natalia Uzhvy), and a handful of narrative films: Andriesh, The Top Guy, Ukrainian Rhapsody, and Flower on the Stone. He became fluent in Ukrainian and married Svitlana Ivanivna Shcherbatiuk (1938–2020) in 1956. The couple had a son named Suran (1958–2021).

In a 1988 interview, Parajanov stated, "Everyone knows that I have three motherlands. I was born in Georgia, worked in Ukraine and I'm going to die in Armenia." In 1965 Parajanov abandoned socialist realism and directed the poetic Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, his first film over which he had complete creative control. It won numerous international awards and was well received by the Soviet authorities, who praised the film for "conveying the poetic quality and philosophical depth of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s tale through the language of cinema," and called it "a brilliant creative success of the Dovzhenko film studio." Authorities allowed the release of the film with its original Ukrainian soundtrack intact, rather than redubbing the dialogue into Russian for Soviet-wide release, in order to preserve its Ukrainian integrity. (Russian dubbing was standard practice at that time for non-Russian Soviet films when they were distributed outside the republic of origin.)

In 1969, Parajanov moved to Armenia to work on his next film; this was the first time he had visited the country and instilled in him the influence to direct Sayat Nova. It was shot under relatively poor conditions and had a very small budget. Unlike Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Sayat Nova was not well received by the authorities, who were quick to intervene, and ban the film for its allegedly inflammatory content and lack of socialist realism. Parajanov re-edited the film and renamed it The Color of Pomegranates.

Imprisonment, career hiatus, and other artistic ambitions

Since the early 1960s, Parajanov had increasingly become the subject of attention by the KGB, for a variety of political activities related to his affinity towards Ukrainian nationalism. He was an active protester following the 1965–1966 Ukrainian purge. In 1969, a report by the Committee for State Security to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Communist party indicated their belief that Parajanov was a negative influence on his younger colleagues, as well as a key purveyor of ideologically harmful opinion. He was also deemed as someone with a desire to defect if he were to travel abroad. Three days before Parajanov was due to be sentenced, Tarkovsky wrote a letter to the Central Committee, asserting that "In the last ten years Sergei Parajanov has made only two films: Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors and The Colour of Pomegranates. They have influenced cinema first in Ukraine, second in this country as a whole, and third in the world at large. Artistically, there are few people in the entire world who could replace Parajanov. He is guilty – guilty of his solitude. We are guilty of not thinking of him daily and of failing to discover the significance of a master." An eclectic group of artists, actors, filmmakers and activists protested on behalf of Parajanov, calling for his immediate release. Among them were Tarkovsky, Pasolini, Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov, Yves Saint Laurent, Marcello Mastroianni, Françoise Sagan, Heinrich Böll, Louis Aragon, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Mikhail Vartanov.

Because of his homosexuality, he had very low status among the inmates, and was beaten. Nevertheless, he soon gained respect from others:

Parajanov served four years out of his five-year sentence, and later credited his early release to the efforts made by Aragon, Elsa Triolet, and John Updike. His efforts in the camp were repeatedly compromised by prison guards, who deprived him of materials and called him mad, their cruelty only subsiding after a statement from Moscow admitting that "the director is very talented." They sent a telegram to Russia with the following statement: "The world of cinema has lost a magician. Parajanov’s fantasy will forever fascinate and bring joy to the people of the world…”.

Parajanov was highly appreciated by Andrei Tarkovsky himself in the biographical film "Voyage in Time" ("Always with huge gratitude and pleasure I remember the films of Sergei Parajanov, which I love very much. His way of thinking, his paradoxical, poetical... ability to love beauty and the ability to be absolutely free within his own vision"). In the same film Tarkovsky stated that Parajanov is one of his favorite filmmakers.

Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni stated that “The Color of Pomegranates by Parajanov, in my opinion one of the best contemporary film directors, strikes with its perfection of beauty.” Parajanov was also admired by the American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. French film director Jean-Luc Godard also stated that "In the temple of cinema, there are images, light, and reality. Sergei Parajanov was the master of that temple".

Despite having many admirers of his art, his vision did not attract many followers. "Whoever tries to imitate me is lost", he reportedly said. However, directors such as Theo Angelopoulos, Béla Tarr and Mohsen Makhmalbaf share Parajanov's approach to film as a primarily visual medium rather than as a narrative tool.

The Parajanov-Vartanov Institute was established in Hollywood in 2010 to study, preserve and promote the artistic legacies of Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov.

In 2024, marking the 100th anniversary of Parajanov's birth, Ukrainian film maker Taras Tomenko made the documentary "A Sentimental Journey to the Parajanov Planet". The film premiered internationally at the 40th Warsaw Film Festival where it won the 3rd place in the Audience Award for documentary films.

References in popular culture Parajanov's life story provides (quite loosely) the basis for the 2006 novel Stet by the American author James Chapman. Lady Gaga's video for "911" visually references The Color of Pomegranates through much of the video. The film poster also appears on the street scene at the end of the video. Gaga's video presents the film's symbols in her own allegory of pain. Without permission Nicolas Jaar released, in 2015, the album Pomegranates, intended as an alternative soundtrack for The Color of Pomegranates and was asked by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute to cancel the performance in Los Angeles. The Color of Pomegranates also influenced the alternative rock group R.E.M.'s music video for "Losing My Religion".

Filmography Year English title Original title Romanization Notes 1951 Moldavian Tale In Russian: Молдавская сказкаIn Ukrainian: Moлдавська байка Moldavskaya skazkaMoldavska baika Graduate short film; lost 1954 Andriesh In Russian: Андриеш Andriesh Co-directed with Yakov Bazelyan; feature-length remake of Moldavian Tale 1958 Dumka In Ukrainian: Думка Dumka Documentary 1958 The First Lad (aka The Top Guy) In Russian: Первый пареньIn Ukrainian: Перший пapyбок Pervyj parenPershyi parubok 1959 Natalya Ushvij In Russian: Наталия Ужвий Natalia Uzhvij Documentary 1960 Golden Hands In Russian: Золотые руки Zolotye ruki Documentary 1961 Ukrainian Rhapsody In Russian: Украинская рапсодияIn Ukrainian: Укpaїнськa рaпсодія Ukrainskaya rapsodiyaUkrainska rapsodiya 1962 Flower on the Stone In Russian: Цветок на камнеIn Ukrainian: Квітка на камені Tsvetok na kamneKvitka na kameni Co-directed with Anatoly Slesarenko 1965 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors In Ukrainian: Тіні забутих предків Tini zabutykh predkiv 1965 In Ukrainian: Київські фрескиIn Russian: Киевские фрески Banned during pre-production; 15 minutes of auditions survive 1967 Hakob Hovnatanian In Armenian: Հակոբ Հովնաթանյան Hakob Hovnatanyan Short film portrait of the 19th century Armenian artist Hakob Hovnatanyan 1968 Children to Komitas In Armenian: Երեխաներ Կոմիտասին Yerekhaner Komitasin Documentary for UNICEF; lost 1969 The Color of Pomegranates In Armenian: Նռան գույնը Nran guyne Originally titled Sayat-Nova 1985 The Legend of Suram Fortress In Georgian: ამბავი სურამის ციხისა Ambavi Suramis tsikhisa 1985 Arabesques on the Pirosmani Theme In Georgian: არაბესკები ფიროსმანის თემაზეIn Russian: Арабески на тему Пиросмани Short film portrait of the Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani 1988 Ashik Kerib In Georgian: აშიკი ქერიბიIn Azerbaijani: Aşıq Qərib Ashiki Keribi 1989–1990 The Confession In Armenian: Խոստովանանք Khostovanank Unfinished; original negative survives in Mikhail Vartanov's Parajanov: The Last Spring

Screenplays

Partially produced screenplays Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Тіні забутих предків, 1965, co-written with Ivan Chendei, based on the novelette by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky) Kyiv Frescoes (Київські фрески, 1965) Sayat Nova (Саят-Нова, 1969, original production screenplay of The Color of Pomegranates) The Confession (сповідь, 1969–1989) Studies About Vrubel (Этюды о Врубеле, 1989, depiction of Mikhail Vrubel's Kyiv period, co-written and directed by Leonid Osyka) Swan Lake: The Zone (Лебедине озеро. Зона, 1989, filmed in 1990, directed by Yuriy Illienko, cinematographer of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors)

Unproduced screenplays The Dormant Palace (Дремлющий дворец, 1969, based on Pushkin's poem The Fountain of Bakhchisaray) Intermezzo (1972, based on Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's short story) Icarus (Икар, 1972) The Golden Edge (Золотой обрез, 1972) Ara the Beautiful (Ара Прекрасный, 1972, based on the poem by 20th century Armenian poet Nairi Zaryan about Ara the Beautiful) Demon (Демон, 1972, based on Lermontov's eponymous poem) The Miracle of Odense (Чудо в Оденсе, 1973, loosely based on the life and works of Hans Christian Andersen) David of Sasun (Давид Сасунский, mid-1980s, based on Armenian epic poem David of Sasun) The Martyrdom of Shushanik (Мученичество Шушаник, 1987, based on Georgian chronicle by Iakob Tsurtaveli) The Treasures of Mount Ararat (Сокровища у горы Арарат) Among his projects, there were also plans for adapting Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Goethe's Faust, and the Old East Slavic poem The Tale of Igor's Campaign, but the film scripts for these were never completed.

Awards and recognition There is a statue of Parajanov in Tbilisi. There is a plaque on the wall of Parajanov's childhood home. The street where Parajanov grew up, Kote Meskhi street, was renamed Parajanov Street in 2021. There is a house museum dedicated to Parajanov in Yerevan, Armenia. State Prize of the Armenian SSR (1988) Shevchenko National Prize (1991) National Legend of Ukraine (2024)