The Legend of Suram Fortress
Thursday , August 15 at 7pm SERGEI PARAJANOV : SURREALIST POET OF SOVIET CINEMA The Legend of Suram Fortress dir . Sergei Parajanov , Soviet Union , 1984 , 35mm , Georgian with English subtitles , 88 min .
“ I always recaII with great gratitude and great pIeasure Sergei Parajanov ’ s fiIms which I Iove very much . He had a paradoxicaI and poetic way of thinking . The way he Ioved beauty , the way he couId be absoIuteIy free within his idea of the fiIm .” — Andrei Tarkovsky
Based on an ancient legend , this dazzling film is a surreal ode to Georgian warriors throughout the ages who died for their country . Repeated efforts by the Georgian people to construct a defensive stronghold continually fail . The building collapses until a fortune teller remembers an old prophecy that the son of her erstwhile lover must be bricked up alive in order for the fortress to stand . The young man is faced with the prospect of sacrificing himself to save his country . Like his most-famous film , The Color of Pomegranates , the film consists in a series of tableaux . Once again minimal dialogue is used and the film abounds in surreal , almost oneiric power .
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Friday , August 16 at 7pm SERGEI PARAJANOV : SURREALIST POET OF SOVIET CINEMA Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors dir . Sergei Parajanov , Soviet Union , 1964 , 35mm , Ukrainian with English subtitles , 97 min .
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a boldly conceived and astonishingly photographed blend of enchanting mythology , hypnotic religious iconography , and pagan magic . And although its unsentimental depiction of the harsh realities of Russian regional history forced Sergei Pararajanov into direct conflict with bureaucrats then controlling the Soviet film industry , the film became an international sensation when it was released in 1964 .
“ There is no devil in church , only among men .” Deep in the Carpathian Mountains of 19th-century Ukraine , love , hate , life and death among the Hutsul people are as they ’ ve been since time began . While young Ivan ’ s mother mourns her husband ’ s brutal murder , Ivan is drawn to Marichka , the beautiful young daughter of the man who killed his father . But fate tragically decrees that the two lovers will remain apart . Unhappily married to another woman and cursed by a sorcerer in this life , Ivan ’ s obsession with his lost love lures him ever closer to a reunion with Marichka in death . ihousephilly . org