Cinema
Northern Rainbow
Հյուսիսային ծիածան
Artashes Hay-Artyan · 1961
Synopsis
1826, in a village of eastern Armenia. In the middle of the wedding of Vardan and Manoushak, Persian horsemen swoop down on the village and carry off the inhabitants into captivity, among them the bride and little Vardanik, Nouné's son. The Armenians call for help to the commander of the Russian troops in the Caucasus, who sends Alexander Griboyedov to Tehran to seek a peaceful way out, while Hassan Khan's raids continue.
Context
The film was shot in 1960 at Armenfilm from a screen story by Rachia Kochar, which links the union of Eastern Armenia with Russia to the events of 1826 and to the role of Griboyedov, the diplomat-writer killed in 1829 during the attack on the Russian embassy in Tehran. Lev Frichinsky plays Griboyedov, opposite Hrachia Nersisyan and Mikael Haroutiounian, and the film was released in cinemas in 1961.
Who it is for
In Armenian, subtitled. A historical film of its time, whose interest lies in its subject more than in its manner.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the historical epic of the Yerevan studio at the turn of the sixties, and as one of the first works of that cinema to raise a bolder political voice.