Description
A breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography, and cinema, Sergei Parajanov’s masterwork overflows with unforgettable images and sounds. In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, The Color of Pomegranates revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film’s tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov’s original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema’s most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty.
The Color of Pomegranates was restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the Cineteca di Bologna, in association with the National Cinema Centre of Armenia and Gosfilmofond of Russia, and funded by the Material World Charitable Foundation.
DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, undertaken by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna
- New audio commentary featuring critic, filmmaker, and festival programmer Tony Rayns
- The Color of Armenian Land, a rarely seen 1969 documentary by Mikhail Vartanov featuring footage of director Sergei Parajanov at work
- New video essay on the film’s symbols and references, featuring scholar James Steffen
- New interview with Steffen on the production of the film
- Documentaries from 1977 and 2003 on Armenian poet Sayat-Nova and Parajanov
- The Last Film, a 2015 experimental short documentary by Martiros M. Vartanov
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Ian Christie
New cover by Anthony Gerace
Criterion Collection:
Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to publishing important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. No matter the medium—from laserdisc to DVD and Blu-ray to streaming—Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, in state-of-the-art restorations with special features designed to encourage repeated watching and deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the art of film.
- UPC: 715515213714
This is a Region 1 DVD. Requires a ‘Region 1’ or ‘Region free’ DVD player.
ESTIMATE DISPATCH 7 to 18 BUSINESS DAYS. (subject to availability).
