A spiritual, cultural and scientific-educational center and monastery complex of medieval Armenia Haghpat got its second wind when it became the main hero of the masterpiece of Sergei Paradjanov, the film The Color of Pomegranates (1969). Obviously a talented artist was meant to address the life and creations of another genius, a great Medieval Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova.
It was equally predictable that the film dedicated to Sayat-Nova and telling about him was to be shot in Haghpat given that the last period of his life was closely linked to this church. Parajanov’s Haghpat is the Haghpat of those who create and appreciate beauty. It is the Haghpat of Parajanov and Sayat-Nova. And again, for yet another time the reserved ascetic architecture is lit and warmed by the everyday routine of monks. Here there are washing their feet, squeezing the grapes and filling up the huge jugs. Not a single useless or unnecessary move, natural colors, simple, plain lines, pure beauty.
Photo: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, Sergei Paradjanov Museum, Yerevan, 2026.
The film is a visual poetry. This is a biographical film but captures life in a patchwork of impressions, in fragments of folklore, history and religion. Sergei Paradjanov inspired by traditional Armenian and Persian miniatures, which interweave abstract symbolism with a wealth of texture, movement and color. Paradjanov’s visual poetry failed to please the Soviet censors—they deemed it to be insufficiently educational. But it has enchanted generations of film lovers ever since its first release.
It’s tempting to label Paradjanov as Russian or simply Soviet, but he was born in Tbilisi and died in Yerevan. He was, above all, a true son of the Caucasus. Georgians claim him as their own just as much as Armenians do.
Photo: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, Tbilisi, 2025.
HAGHPAT, Ashot Muradyan, Collage Ltd.
The Color of Pomegranates, IDFA Archive 2024, www.idfa.nl
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