The Cinema of Sergei Parajanov Parajanov performs his own imprisonment for the camera. Tbilisi, October 15, 1984. Courtesy of Yuri Mechitov. The Cinema of Sergei Parajanov James Steffen The University of Wisconsin Press Publication of this volume has been made possible, in part, through support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The University of Wisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor Madison, Wisconsin 53711- 2059 uwpress.wisc .edu 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England eurospanbookstore .com Copyright © 2013 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without written permission of the University of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Steffen, James. The cinema of Sergei Parajanov / James Steffen. p. cm. — (Wisconsin fi lm studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 299- 29654- 4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 299- 29653- 7 (e- book) 1. Paradzhanov, Sergei, 1924–1990—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Motion pictures—Soviet Union. I. Title. II. Series: Wisconsin fi lm studies. PN1998.3.P356S74 2013 791.430947—dc23 2013010422 For my family. Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Note on Transliteration xiii Chronology xv Introduction 3 1 An Artist’s Origins: Youth and Early Ukrainian Films 24 2 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: Ukrainian Revival 56 3 Kyiv Frescoes: The Film That Might Have Been 88 4 The Color of Pomegranates: The Making and Unmaking of a Film 114 5 Silent Years: Unproduced Scripts, 1967–1973 157 6 Internal Exile: Arrest and Imprisonment, 1973–1982 186 7 The Legend of the Surami Fortress: Thunder Over Georgia 202 8 Ashik- Kerib: The End of a Career 231 Epilogue: Parajanov’s Afterlife 249 Filmography 253 Notes 261 Selected Bibliography 289 Index 297 vii Illustrations Because of the importance of visual texture in Parajanov’s fi lms, production stills have been used when available and where they correspond closely to the specifi c scenes being analyzed. Otherwise, frame captures are used. Figures 0.1, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.6, 8.2 are courtesy of the Sergei Parajanov Museum (Yerevan). Figures 1.3–1.8 and 3.1–3.4 are courtesy of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre (Kyiv). Figures 7.1, 7.3, 7.5, and 8.5 are courtesy of Yuri Mechitov. Figures 1.1, 1.2, 2.1–2.7, 4.2, 4.6, 7.2, 7.4, 8.1, 8.3, and 8.4 are frame captures from the author’s collection. 0.1 Sergei Parajanov, I Am Sixty 6 1.1 Voinovan gives Andriesh his enchanted fl ute (Andriesh) 35 1.2 The wizard Black Storm hypnotizes Liana (Andriesh) 36 1.3 Yushka wins Odarka’s affections with his soccer- playing skills (The Top Guy) 38 1.4 A villager pays her respects to a god of the fi elds (The Top Guy) 40 1.5 Oksana on the streets of “Paris” (Ukrainian Rhapsody) 45 1.6 Dovzhenko- inspired imagery in the invasion sequence (Ukrainian Rhapsody) 49 1.7 Christina and her father (The Flower on the Stone) 51 1.8 Peter the Great marvels at a lump of coal (The Flower on the Stone) 52 2.1 The funeral of Ivan’s father, opening shot (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 63 2.2 Frontal tableau of a funeral participant (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 64 2.3 Ivan observes the funeral preparations (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 65 2.4 The funeral procession (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 66 2.5 Ivan and Marichka have run off into the trees (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 67 2.6 Ivan and Palahna’s wedding: the open chest lid conceals the interior space (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 71 ix x Illustrations 2.7 Ivan and Palahna yoked together at their wedding (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) 72 3.1 Breaking the fourth wall (Kyiv Frescoes) 104 3.2 The Man (the fi lm director) in a fl attened composition (Kyiv Frescoes) 106 3.3 The Man’s wife poses with her wedding ring (Kyiv Frescoes) 107 3.4 The presence of a nude model aroused controversy (Kyiv Frescoes) 109 4.1 Sofi ko Chiaureli as the poet Sayat- Nova (The Color of Pomegranates) 125 4.2 The dagger, a recurring visual motif (The Color of Pomegranates) 138 4.3 The young Arutin observes wool- dyeing (The Color of Pomegranates) 141 4.4 Sayat- Nova leads people in mourning (The Color of Pomegranates) 143 4.5 The invasion and the poet’s death represented metaphorically (The Color of Pomegranates) 145 4.6 The Youth pours wine on the poet’s chest (The Color of Pomegranates) 146 4.7 Sayat- Nova’s dream (The Color of Pomegranates) 148 4.8 A discarded scene of Sayat- Nova bathing (The Color of Pomegranates) 153 5.1 Search of the Premises (1988) 160 5.2 Collage- sketch for Intermezzo (1973) 172 6.1 Syphilis in the Zone: Looking for the Source (1974–1977) 195 6.2 Detail from The Gospel According to Pasolini (1976) 196 7.1 Simon the Piper teaches Zurab about Georgian culture (The Legend of the Surami Fortress) 205 7.2 Decorative Orientalism (The Legend of the Surami Fortress) 207 7.3 Costumed dancers during Berikaoba (The Legend of the Surami Fortress) 208 7.4 Subverting the conventions of realism (The Legend of the Surami Fortress) 209 7.5 Marguerite, Pirosmani’s Muse (Arabesques on the Theme of Pirosmani) 217 7.6 Remorse (1989) 219 8.1 Epigraphic still life (Ashik- Kerib) 235 8.2 Oriental drag: Self- portrait in Istanbul (1989) 237 8.3 The groom at the Wedding of the Blind (Ashik- Kerib) 239 8.4 The episode “God is One” (Ashik- Kerib) 240 8.5 A young Parajanov feeds a sacrifi cial ram (Confession) 246 Acknowledgments Zaven Sargsyan and the staff at the Sergei Parajanov Museum in Yerevan not only opened up the rich trove of materials at the museum and answered count- less questions, but helped with the logistics of my stays in Yerevan and Kyiv; for this I am endlessly grateful. The late Tetiana Derevianko at the Dovzhenko Film Studio Museum in Kyiv also shared many rare materials and provided a welcoming environment; she will be greatly missed. Liudmila Budiak, Dmitri Karavaev, and the staff at NII Kinoiskusstva (Moscow) allowed me to use their extensive library, screened 35mm prints, and helped obtain permission to access the Goskino fi les in RGALI. The Moscow scholars Valeri Fomin and Miron Chernenko also offered helpful insights and shared materials with me. The staff at the Russian State Archive of Art and Literature (RGALI) and the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI) kindly facilitated access to their archival documents. Ivan Kozlenko at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre helped me obtain stills from several of Parajanov’s Ukrainian fi lms and DVDs of other key Ukrainian fi lms. Serhiy Trymbach at the Dovzhenko Na- tional Centre and Eldar Shengelaia and the staff at the Georgia Film Studio (Tbilisi) screened 35mm prints of fi lms and generously offered their insights. In Tbilisi, thanks also to Temur Palavandishvili at the Georgia Film Studio and Manana Chkonia for sharing insights and research materials with me. Adrian Curry at Zeitgeist Films enabled me to see the fi lm Swan Lake: The Zone. The Widener Library and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University helped access the Georgian newspaper Literaturuli sakartvelo and other Soviet-era periodicals. The outstanding interlibrary loan department at Emory’s Woodruff Library has helped me obtain many other materials over the years. Irena Popiashvili hosted me during visits to Tbilisi and New York and introduced me to individuals such as Mark Polyakov and Yuri Mechitov; I am much indebted to her and her family. Elena Drozdova and Arch Getty at Praxis assisted with the logistics of my stay in Moscow. Galina Alexandrovna was an unforgettable host in Moscow. Taline Voskeritchian, besides being a xi xii Acknowledgments delightful colleague and friend over the years, hosted me during the research trip to Harvard. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Emory University funded my initial research trips to Armenia and Georgia in 1996 and 1998; the Emory Internationalization Fund supported the main research trip from September 2000–February 2001 in Russia, Ukraine, and Armenia. My dissertation com- mittee (David A. Cook, Angelika Bammer, Matthew Payne, and Karla Oeler) offered unfl agging support and challenged me to think about the topic in new ways. The Woodruff Library at Emory granted temporary leave to complete work on the manuscript in the summer of 2011. The Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program at Emory provided subvention funds to offset the cost of illustrations. A number of individuals granted me interviews. Not all of them ended up in this book, but they will be used in a future biography of Parajanov. I would especially like to thank Svetlana Shcherbatiuk for her patience and generous spirit. Cora Tsereteli, Vigen Galstyan, Nairi Galstanian, Yuri Mechitov, Berj Kalayjian, and others offered invaluable feedback on the manuscript at various stages. In particular, the three anonymous readers offered genuinely helpful comments and recommendations. The editor Gwen Walker deserves a note of special thanks for her exemplary professionalism and her support, as does the rest of the excellent staff at the University of Wisconsin Press.