Celebrating 100 Years of Soviet Filmmaker Sergei Parajanov
For six decades, Sergei Parajanov’s films have graced the cinema, reaching international acclaim while challenging their audiences. As the art world reflects on the 100 years since his birth, so too can political and social thinkers.
In 1924, Parajanov (or Paradzhanov) was born to Armenian parents in Soviet Tbilisi. Born into an artistic family, Parajanov would attend the prestigious Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, Russia before working and residing in Ukraine. Director of influential films such as Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) and The Color of Pomegranates (1969), Sergei Parajanov was a trailblazer in Soviet cinema because his work reflected a deviation from creative normalcy, the guidelines of Socialist realism.
Socialist realism, a theory developed in 1932, idealized the Soviet lifestyle and supported Marxist propaganda in visual arts. Once he abandoned this style, Parajanov’s work began to gain popularity. Defined by its imaginative qualities and facilitated by his unique perception of culture, his work left no room for absolute interpretation, but rather invited the audience to perceive it on their own terms. According to Parajanov, “my films have only one thing in common, a similarity in style… I didn’t want to found a school or teach anyone anything. Whoever tries to imitate me is lost.”
In 1973, Parajanov was arrested on charges of homosexuality (which was unlawful in the Former Soviet Union), and sentenced to five years in a Ukrainian prison. The Soviet Union censored his films and he was blacklisted. His arrest and four-year imprisonment led to conversations surrounding human rights and free speech across the Soviet Union. Parajanov’s impact on Soviet citizens led him to become associated with a new generation of Soviet intellectuals, referred to as the “dissidenti” (the dissidents), who believed in and advocated for their rights to freedom of speech and cultural expression. The “dissidenti” used Parajanov’s films to promote their intellectual movement.
Parajanov’s arrest was met with an international campaign of release. Protests were held in Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union itself. Parajanov ultimately resumed directing during Mikhail Gorbachev’s presidency, marked by “glasnost” policy. “Glasnost” policy was an attempt for democratization through a more open government, the liberalization of the political climate, and the dissemination of information, creating a political atmosphere that allowed for the discussion of social and political issues. Under glasnost policy, Parajanov had the freedom to resume creating the work he believed in.
Although his work has been heavily criticized, it has also been celebrated by directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarvovsky praises Parajanov’s “way of thinking, his paradoxical poetical… ability to love beauty and ability to be absolutely free within his own vision.” Godard advances this notion by stating, “in the temple of cinema there are images, light, and reality. Sergei Parajanov was the master of that temple.”
A century after his birth, the global cinematic landscape still recognizes Parajanov’s impact. His films continue to be featured in international film festivals and studied in film schools across the world. In recent times, the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute was established to continue to honor his legacy through archival efforts. The institute states its main goal is “familiarizing the world more closely with the art of this great master.”
As the two year mark of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war nears, evident patterns can be linked between the Soviet Union’s treatment of Parajanov, and Russia’s deliberate targeting of Ukrainian cultural and historical sites during the war. So far, UNESCO has recorded 337 sites with verified damage. These sites include museums, libraries, and churches. As Russia targets these sites, they are gradually destroying a key component of Ukrainian nationality: a common historical background. The censorship of Parajanov’s films was a result of similar intentions.
Parajanov’s work and growing influence created fear among authorities because he ignored existing social boundaries and altered the global perception of Soviet cinema. For example, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was a film which depicted the lives of the Hutsuls in the Carpathian region. Based on Ukrainian folklore, the film follows two lovers, Ivan and Marichka, as they navigate the complexities between their love for eachother and the feud between their families. By openly promoting Ukraine’s ancient traditions and customs through compelling visuals and vibrant music, the film supported Ukrainian nationalism during Stalin’s rule, a period when it was suppressed, and was the first film during its time to be widely recognized as “Ukrainian” as opposed to “Russian” or “Soviet.” The Soviet Union’s censorship of this film can be interpreted as an attempt to erase Ukraine’s historical account and loosen the pillars of nationalism and cultural identity. Russia’s intentional targeting of Ukrainian cultural sites and the Soviet Union’s censorship of Parajanov’s films are both examples of retaliation against loosened control and Ukrainian nationalism.
Russia’s ongoing efforts to undermine Ukrainian identity through their denial of Ukraine’s history and their attacks on nationalism are not a new phenomenon. However, similar to Parajanov’s lasting legacy in both politics and the arts through active preservation efforts, the prominence of Ukrainian sovereignty and identity in public discourse can have a large impact on strengthening Ukrainian nationalism in the midst of challenging times.