Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Parajanov, 1964): BFI Southbank 6.10pm
This film features in the Restored strand at BFI Souhbank.
Chicago Reader review:
Adapted
from a novel by Ukrainian writer M. Kotsyubinsky, Sergei Paradjanov's
extraordinary merging of myth, history, poetry, ethnography, dance,
and ritual (1964) remains one of the supreme works of the Soviet
sound cinema, and even subsequent Paradjanov features have failed to
dim its intoxicating splendors. Set in the harsh and beautiful
Carpathian Mountains, the movie tells the story of a doomed love
between a couple belonging to feuding families, Ivan and Marichka,
and of Ivan's life and marriage after Marichka's death. The plot is
affecting, but it serves Paradjanov mainly as an armature to support
the exhilarating rush of his lyrical camera movements (executed by
master cinematographer Yuri Illyenko), his innovative use of nature
and interiors, his deft juggling of folklore and fancy in relation to
pagan and Christian rituals, and his astonishing handling of color
and music. A film worthy of Dovzhenko, whose poetic vision of
Ukrainian life is frequently alluded to. In Ukrainian with
subtitles.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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