Watches
January 02, 2023
A visual poem. I definitely appreciated the idea and concept of the film, but the slightly dated cinematography and the unpleasant score held it back quite a bit. That's entirely due to personal aesthetic preferences though, people who love a good classic and don't mind that a film is quite abstract should definitely seek this one out.
The film follows the life of Sayat Nova, an Armenian poet. Rather than offer a straightforward biography, director Parajanov sketches his life through imagery derived from Nova's poetry. The result is something that makes little factual sense but does give you a solid idea of what the man was about in an artistic sense.
The cinematography is quite something, with lots of abstract and fantastical tableaus. I'm sure that people familiar with Armenian culture will catch more of the references and symbolism (I am utterly clueless in that regard), but I liked the creativity of it all. The soundtrack wasn't to my liking, but the runtime is pleasant and I was always curious about what the next scene would bring. Interesting film.