The Colour of Pomegranates: Colour as a Narrative Device
What first comes to mind when you think of Red? Ripe summer fruits or perhaps Catholic iconography.
Red is an evocative colour, loaded with powerful associations. Sergei Parajanov understood this and used Red, alongside other colours in his experimental film The Colour of Pomegranates. He used a colour script to guide the emotional undertones of the narrative through a stream of consciousness style, Parajanov frees up the viewer to let the beautiful imagery wash over them. The Colour of Pomegranates is a semi-biographical film inspired by the muse of the film Sayat-Nova, an Armenian poet whose inner world and creative spirit is creatively interpreted by Parajanov. The film presents the life of the poet in multiple chapters, showing the different stages of his life through visual metaphors. These metaphors reflect the imagery of Sayat-Nova’s poetry. Dreams and memories are used as a form of storytelling, and avoids an educational narrative on the life of Sayat-Nova with less of a focus on objective truth. Sayat-Nova’s work can be seen through a subjective perspective, one that is translated from written to visual.
Image Credit: IMDb
Who is Sergei Parajanov?
He is an Armenian film director and screenwriter whose heritage is deeply rooted in his work. In an era of strict state control, Parajanov worked during the socio-political backdrop of the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Parajanov used colour as a visual tool to communicate his cultural identity, with red symbolising vitality and torment. Due to the challenges of Soviet censorship, his surrealist and abstract style of storytelling gave him an avenue to exhibit his heritage, using colour as a language of resistance.
Image Credit: IMDb
Symbolism of Colours
Pomegranate red, gold and earth tones constitute the main palette of the film. The central colour of the film, which is clearly expressed by the title, is pomegranate red. Pomegranates in the Caucasus region and the Middle East are a culturally and historically significant fruit, often symbolising fertility, sacrifice and eternal life. In this context pomegranate red represents the passion of life and the inevitable end, creating associations and contemplations of the cyclical nature of existence. Gold links to the iconography of Armenian art and mosaics, with gold symbolising the divinity of Eastern Orthodox traditions. The reflections of this colour elevates the narrative to a sacred place from our material world to a divine land. With earthly tones creating a grounding effect, bridging the viewer back to the Caucasus landscape of desaturated greens, browns and ochre. Parajanov’s use of these tones invokes a sense of timelessness and liminality, presenting that human existence is an extension of the natural world.
The film doesn't follow a linear narrative, instead using colour as a symbolic device, repeating specific colours throughout to create some cohesion that ties the fractured narrative together. His symbolic use of colour extends to the visual, shaping a cohesive layered narrative journey.
Image Credit: IMDb
Cinematic Techniques in Colour Representation
The set design of The Colour of Pomegranates is minimalistic focusing the attention on the form and colours of the scenes, the tableau-style set often resembles static painting with carefully arranged objects and intentional movement from the figures. With the characters frequently facing towards the camera adding a stillness, which creates a sense of harmony and balance. This encourages the viewer to contemplate each frame without overthinking or over analysing what they’re seeing, allowing the viewers to immerse themself into that world. This stillness communicates the film’s stream of consciousness narrative style, reminiscent of the muddled flow of thoughts and memories in a stream of consciousness, the narrative is fragmented between displays of Sayat-Nova's life, memories and dreams. Within this frame of reference, the use of colour functions akin to the flow of thought. Colour is used as a narrative device by recurring and emerging in a non-linear way, set to subconsciously resonate in a way that creates emotional cohesion. The repetition of pomegranate red is reminiscent of recurring feelings and memories that helps to unify the narrative.
The interplay of light and shadow further enhances this stream of consciousness, bringing the colours to life as the contrast adds depth and intensity to the colour symbolism. There is a scene in the film displaying three bleeding pomegranates on a clean white cloth, that uses a soft light which boosts the vibrancy of the fruit, whilst below casts a shadow outline, highlighting the complexity and beauty of Armenian culture. The clothing also plays a role in the film's aesthetics adding to the cohesion and beauty of the scenes, with rich patterns and textured fabrics also being coloured mirroring the palette of the film. Showing how layered and intentional every aspect of the scene layouts and set designs are in creating this cinematic experience.
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Armenian Heritage and Resilience
This creative exploration of Armenian culture influenced by local art and folk traditions, immerses the film's visuals with references to the country's artistic history. The most striking being the symbol of the pomegranate, its deep red colour reflects the themes of life and suffering, reflecting the poet Sayat-Nova whose art inspired this film. The pomegranate serves as a repetitive motif, used in key scenes as a reminder of the cyclical nature of life. Parajanov subverted the constraints of the Soviet-era by creating an abstract allegory of his imagined interpretation of Sayat-Nova’s inner world, which in turn created a new and innovative perspective on storytelling and art direction. Through this abstract allegory of Sayat-Nova’s inner world, Parajanov both venerates his cultural heritage whilst challenging political constraints.
Image Credit: IMDb
The Colour of Pomegranates is a tribute to the power of colour when used as a narrative device. Colour is not just an aesthetic device, but shapes the emotional landscape of this film. Parajanov’s stream of consciousness style integrated with the repetition of the colours pomegranate red, gold and earthy tones carries Sayat-Nova’s poetry into life. The Colour of Pomegranates immerses its viewers into Armenian heritage, offering a peek into its culture, beauty, pain and resilience. This film twists and provokes ways to view storytelling, presenting that storytelling is not just a sequence of unfolding events– instead how storytelling can be evocative, and guide you through a vivid emotional journey.
Sources
https://www.theculturium.com/sergei-parajanov-the-colour-of-pomegranates/
https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/bleeding-heart-sayat-nova-intermediality-cinem a-portrayed-through-color-pomegranates
https://cineccentric.com/2018/04/14/the-color-of-pomegranates/
https://newlinesmag.com/review/remembering-sergei-parajanov-the-bard-of-the-caucasu s/
https://magazine.artland.com/the-other-sergei-parajanov-the-collages-of-the-magician-of- cinema/
Images
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063555/mediaindex/
