Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
(Sergei Paradjanov, 1964, 97 min, USSR, in Ukrainian w/ English subtitles, Color, 35mm)
Discussion following the screening with a panel including…
- Evan Morgan (Trinity ’19)
- Jason Oppliger (Instructor, AMI)
- Anna Kipervaser (Instructor, AMI)
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 visionary director Sergei Paradjanov (The Color of Pomegranates) 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.
“In this overwhelmingly beautiful movie, a sad, short, brutalized life is elevated to ecstatic myth.”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice
