Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, 1965

Much as I adore Parajanov, I think this is one of his weaker films. It was one of his earlier films and it doesn't have the don't-want-to-blink visuals of films like "Ashik Kerib" or "Color of Pomegranates." Perhaps most importantly, it is the only one of his films available here to be set outside of his beloved Caucasus, the land whose aesthetic he captures so perfectly. But "Shadows" is in no way a bad film. Sure, I find his Caucasian aesthetic to be more appealing, but he still manages to capture the Ukrainian aesthetic very well. Parajanov's colors still catch the eye as always. I found the background music in this film to be more stirring than in most of his films. This film should also be lauded as one of the few films, especially in the Soviet period, to actually use real Ukrainian language and not just knock-off Russian. The combination of all these elements--music, clothing, language--adds up to what could almost be an anthropological documentary on village life in Carpathian Ukraine. All in all, this film is typically slow-paced and has a typically complex narrative, so I think Parajanov fans will like it but others may not.

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