Cinema
The Legend of Suram Fortress
ამბავი სურამის ციხისა
Sergei Parajanov · 1985
Synopsis
Dourmichkhan, a serf whom his master has just freed, must buy Vardo's freedom in order to marry her. He leaves his country, meets on the way a merchant who tells him his life story, and makes his fortune far from her. Vardo, left alone, becomes a fortune-teller; and the fortress of Souram, which no one manages to build, collapses as fast as it is raised.
Context
The story comes from the short story that Daniel Chonkadze published in 1860, which brought an oral legend of the Caucasus into written literature. The direction is shared with Dodo Abashidze, who also plays two roles; the screenplay is by Vaja Gigashvili, the cinematography by Yuri Klimenko, the music by Jansug Kakhidze, and Sofiko Chiaureli plays Vardo while Veriko Anjaparidze plays the fortune-teller. The manner takes up that of Sayat-Nova: a series of tableaux, reduced dialogue, an almost motionless camera, and deliberately blurred boundaries between the pagan, the Orthodox and the Muslim.
Who it is for
Eighty-eight minutes, in Georgian and Russian. It should be known that it does not follow like a story: the scenes are valid in themselves and the secondary characters arrive without being introduced.
Prizes and reception
The return of its director after fifteen years of prohibition and camp, presented at the Moscow festival in July 1985.