Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa

The Georgian/Russian film Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa (1985) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title The legend of Suram Fortress. The movie was directed by Sergei Parajanov. (Co-directed by Dodo Abashidze.)

Parajanov's muse, Sofiko Chiaureli, stars as Vardo, a young slave whose lover departs and doesn't return. She becomes a fortune teller, and communicates an old folk legend about what will be required to build Suram Fortress. (Ms. Chiaureli starred in every one of Parajanov's films from 1965.)

There was actually a Suram Fortress in Georgia, which was built in the 12th Century. However, this movie isn't really about historical events. It's a drama of passion, revenge, religious conflict, and courage.

This was director Parajanov's first film after he was released from prison. No one could prove that he had actually committed a crime. He was imprisoned because he refused to make films in the Socialist Realism style. Instead, his movies are splashed with intense colors, and almost dreamlike in quality.

The film is divided into about a dozen segments, which don't necessarily follow in chronological order. Flashbacks abound, and everything looks exotic to our eyes. The haunting music adds to the the exotic quality.

I've written quite a bit about Parajanov in my review of his earlier movie Sayat Nova/The Color of Pomegranates (1969). Please check out that review for more information if you're interested in this creative genius.

The Legend of Suram Fortress would work better on a large screen. However, we saw it on DVD, where it worked well enough. The movie has a solid IMDb rating of 7.4. I thought that it was better than that, and rated it 9.

Sergei Parajanov has the most personal style of all directors I know of. He firmly established this style with his films "Shadows of our forgotten ancestors" (1965) and "The color of pomegranates" (1969).

The leaders of the Soviet Union didn't like his style. It didn't fit in with their opinions about (the role of) art (in society). Parajanov spend the '70s and early '80s mostly in jail and labor camps convicted on diverse false accusations.

When he was released in the '80s Parajanov started a second phase in his career. "The legend of Suram fortress was the first film in this second phase. In a book about the history of film I read about this second phase "and he made another three films". That is in my opinion too short a summary and does not do justice to "The legend of Suram fortress. It is true however that "The legend of Suram fortress" is not an artistic break from previous films. Parajanov does not break new grounds in the second phase of his career.

Just like in earlier films "The legend of the Suram forttress" is visually hypnotizing. His images are deeply rooted in old mythical and religious stories and icons. This also means that the plot is hard to follow for Western eyes. The film is more a series of "tableaux vivants" than chapters of a story.

In the films of for exampls Sergei Eisenstein you can sometimes guess that underneath his hstorical stories there was criticism on the current situation. "The legend of the Surem fortress" is plotwise too inaccessible to conclude that it contains hidden criticism on the way the Soviet Union had treated Parajanov in the past decade.

From all the "tableaux vivants" in the movie I was charmed most by "The prayer" and "The passage of time". The way Parajanov uses the close up in these tablaeux is really beautiful.

Full review on my blog max4movies: Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa (international title: The Legend of Suram Fortress) is the fictionalized retelling of an ancient Georgian tale about a fortress that could only be built with a human sacrifice. Visually, the movie looks wonderful with vibrant colors, perfectly arranged set pieces, and a striking choreography. And while the plot remains mostly simple and central aspects and characters even seem obscure, the heavy use of symbols give the movie a dreamlike quality. Certain scenes - although aesthetically pleasing - seem to lack a clear connection to the plot, which is why the overall allegory about political oppression will remain vague for some viewers.

SURAM FORTRESS has a bit more narrative than some of Parajanov's films but, as with the others, I still don't always understand what's going on or why. Still, his very eccentricity, breaking every rule of narrative and filmmaking, inspires me in my own work as a playwright and composer.

His use of striking, associative images -- powerful, even when they don't make literal sense -- recalls the great Tarkovsky, who does something similar in his films, in his own very personal style.

Parajanov, like Bresson -- another director who can fascinate and baffle me at the same time -- does everything differently from the way it's usually done, infuriating viewers expecting believable characters and comprehensible stories. With both directors, the results can be uneven, but at their best, they really inspire, stimulate, and get your creative juices flowing.

Bresson, Tarkovsky, and Parajanov prove you can truly try ANYTHING while following your own artistic vision. But, unlike some overpraised fraudulent directors, they are never pretentiously avant- garde for its own sake, phony, insincere, or "different" just to come across as cool, perverse, or faux-profound.

Parajanov and Bresson's boldly individual styles embolden me to be fresher, more original, and think outside of the box in my own work.

In his first film since his release from the Gulag system, Paradjanov demonstrated that he was wounded, but not killed, that his soul didn't atrophy, and that he was still seeing in color. Needless to say, this is a visual masterpiece, as is everything that bears his name. Although his best works were either behind him or in his head, it is more of a testimony to the magnitude of his talent. Photographed in niello silver, "The Legend..." reflected Paradjanov's state of being-an aging and ailing artist, who have suffered, but, to some extent, lived to tell about it.