"ANDREI TARKOVSKY AND SERGEY PARADZHANOV" "ISLANDS" "We are all just visiting with life, Living - it is only a habit rather." "And I seem to hear in heavenly paths Two voices calling to each other." "On the road, ashug!" "Hurry up, you may be late for the wedding of the blind." "It is very rare that great artists should be attracted to one another, love each other and be friends." "More often there is some kind of competition between them." "Since theirs are great artistic worlds following their own laws and orbits, they, as a rule, push off each other, especially if they are huge talents." "By nature, they were very different persons." "One was an introvert." "I mean Tarkovsky." "The other, an extrovert." "That is Paradzhanov." "I first heard of Andrei Tarkovsky in Paradzhanov's house." "It was the time when the film "Ivan's childhood" came to Kiev." "Sergey Grigoryevich said that today he would admit into his house only those who had seen Tarkovsky's " Ivan's childhood"." "THE SIXTIES..." "TWENTY YEARS LATER" "Because weakness is great and strength is insignificant." "When a man is just born, he's weak and flexible." "When he dies, he's hard and insensitive." "When a tree is growing, it is tender and pliant." "And when it gets dry and hard, it dies." "Whenever Sergey Paradzhanov came from TbiIisi, he stayed with us." "It was always a holiday, because" "Sergey staged the theatre he couldn't live without." "Tarkovsky called, he wanted to meet with him." "They always met when they happened to be in the same city." "It always amazed us how these two so different artists could love each other so much." "There was neither envy between them nor any striving to be the first, there was only deep respect and interest in the other's art." "But the essence of their conversations was expressed by Tarkovsky." "He said that when Sergey Paradzhanov conceived an idea he realized it." "That's why his art is so amazingly naive and beautiful." "He said that he was a free man in his art." "We can't be this way, he said, in this respect he's the only one." "Sergey makes this confession, this remarkable confession to his friend." "" As my teacher I consider an absolutely young and amazing director, Tarkovsky, who even didn't realize himself what a genius he was in " Ivan's childhood"." "And so, already Tarkovsky's first film had earned such recognition." "Vigo gave birth to French cinema." "unfortunately, no one could go any further than him." "Then I always recall with great gratitude and great pleasure Sergey Paradzhanov's films which I Iove very much." "He had a paradoxical and poetic way of thinking." "The way he loved beauty, the way he could be absolutely free within his idea of the film." "Tarkovsky's death was a terrible blow for Sergey." "He took it as a personal tragedy." "And as a creative man and an artist, first of all he reacted to it with his work." "The bird, that had always been, both for Sergey and Tarkovsky, a symbol of talent, in this case it's Tarkovsky's symbol, aIights on the camera." "Dedicated to the blessed memory of Andrei Tarkovsky." "And this poster?" "My nephew made this poster." "This is a poster for the film "Ashik Kerib"." "The film is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky." "There's much that links them together." "Both were continuously attracted to the mysteries of the waters." "Time and again they try to peer into the water, to understand... what mysteries are carried by one of the most primeval elements of the world or the life." "MYSTERIES OF THE WATERS" "There're so few of us, several billions, a handful." "Or maybe we're only here in order to first perceive humans as a cause for love?" "Sing, Ivanko, as you can." "I shall sing for you so that you wouldn't understand." "tell me, girl..." "And I also remember, perhaps I'm wrong by one day, but that foresight..." "There's a shot in " stalker"." "A panoramic view through the water, some syringe, a fish, another syringe." "And there is a calendar leaf." "A calendar leaf, if I'm not mistaken, for December 28 or 29." "That is, he had almost foreseen his death." "And the horse theme." "Both inexplicably loved horses." "Again and again they peered at the magic of that amazingly beautiful creature." "SLOW DOWN A BIT, MY HORSES" "I'm your brother, brother." "You cannot be my brother." "You're the enemy!" "FIog him!" "Hack him!" "In the enemy's land everybody's an enemy." "only enemies." "There's nothing more frightful than snow falling in the temple." "Don't you think so?" "MEMORIES ARE TOO PAINFUL TO THE SOUL" "And to feel happy again, because everything still lies ahead," "everything's still possible." "FLAME OF DESIRE" "But there's more that I admire:" "The eyes when they're downcast" "At the time of Iove-inspired fire," "And through the eyelash goes fast" "A somber, dull flame of desire." "Where're you?" "Come here." "Do you hear me?" "Yes." "At last I soared up." "What's wrong, Marousia?" "You feel bad?" "Don't be surprised." "It's so clear." "I Iove you." "So I should go this way?" "unfortunately, there's no other way." "would you rather have a boy or a girl?" "THE CASTLE" "Open the door!" "I need to pray!" "The Lord has to hear my confession!" "O Heavens!" "Nobody opens up to me." "Of course, both of them, Andrei and Sergey, came to be the victims of our monstrous system in art." "How they were taunting Tarkovsky in connection with " Andrei RubIyov", no words can be found to express it." "The same way they were tormenting Sergey about his film "The color of Pomegranates"." "finally, that film was released in an absolutely different version." "Yes, it is marvelous, beautiful, wonderful, but it's different from what Sergey had in mind." "It was edited by director Yutkevich." "But those were someone else's hands and someone else's way of thinking." "They found themselves in a situation where they were outcasts, the persecuted artists." "That was, I think, the paradox of that system." "Their films were mutilated, subjected to numerous amendments." "Everybody knows how many changes were made in " Andrei RubIyov", what torments Andrei had to go through in connection with that film." "As for Sergey Paradzhanov, the same goes for " Sayat Nova"," "which was remade several times." "They thought up a barbaric amusement." "I tossed pomegranates up and they split them with sabers." "Now, come here." "And we see parallels here again." "" Andrei RubIyov" was accused of being an anti-Russian film, that it was distorting the reality, that it was against the people." "The same accusations went to Paradzhanov for " Sayat Nova"." "He was forced to change the film's title." "The film was released under the name of " The color of Pomegranates"." "He was accused of distorting the image of the great medieval poet, that it was absolutely inconsistent with some biographical facts." "It should be noted that no one knows exactly either RubIyov's biography or Sayat Nova's, for that matter." "nonetheless, they made those accusations, and the criticism was quite fierce." "play." "I can't." "play, I said!" "This iron shirt is stifling me." "I can't hold the saz." "How can I play?" "I'm ordering you!" "play!" "I can't breathe." "Let me out." "Sergey Yutkevich offered to help reedit "The color of Pomegranates", so that audiences would understand it." "And then he said the following:" "" I've just returned from Paris, where at the " Cujas" theatre" "" Andrei RubIyov" is being screened, although it hasn't been released in our country." "meanwhile, my friend, the weII-known French film director, communist michel Cournot said that he didn't like Tarkovsky's film " Andrei RubIyov"" "because in that film Tarkovsky doesn't like the Russian people."" "Present at that meeting were" "Demichev, Shauro from the CPSU central Committee..." "THE ZONE" "I don't think I know what I'm imprisoned for and for how long." "They're watching me, waiting for a breakdown." "The hunger strike is ridiculous." "They stay on strike for two years, being fed, handcuffed, through a tube." "The investigator Makashov said:" ""You're to get one year." "But I will look for five, because in five years we'II destroy you."" "What's most awful, they didn't believe me during the investigation and trial." "They kept interrupting me." "That's the method of my prosecutor." "I'II have to pay as in the middle Ages, the time of the Inquisition." "The price is very high." "Around me is a pack of wolves, wolves barking and howling." "alas, I'm not a MaugIi, to be able to Iearn the language of the jungle." "November." "Strizhavka." "They've allowed the mustache." "Hurray!" "It's warm already." "I know one thing: what I've gone thru can't be described by word or pen." "It's enough to say that my day ration is worth 36 kopecks, and if I die, my funeral will cost 79 kopecks." "Tarkovsky was shocked by Sergey's arrest and the accusations he faced." "In one of his first letters to Sergey's exile in Strizhavka he writes:" "" You understand, everyone in Moscow is stunned by your epic experience." "Indeed, no prophet is accepted in his own country."" "Perhaps, if I were freed, the pain I had been experiencing all those 430 days, could have been expressed only in a moan emitted by me lying prostrate for the same number of days." "There're thousands of men in the camp, with different lives and horrors." "AII this is very reminiscent of Bosch." "Look well at his chimeras." "Here in Moscow it's the same old thing." "My " Mirror" was not being approved for half a year." "But now I hope they approve it, either today or tomorrow." "I'm extremely tired of this absurd bureaucratic pushing around." "Gubnik, October 28." "Got a letter from Tarkovsky." "Made a series of postcards "Light and Shadow"." "will try to send it." "June 1 , 1975." "This is a high-security prison." "A pack of Ieprous, tattooed fouI-mouths." "It's frightening." "Here I'm a freak, because I don't know anything:" "neither the jargon, nor the rules of the game." "I don't need anything." "Just one thing." "Invite Tarkovsky to visit you, Iet him be with you for a while." "It's more than a holiday." "Have you seen " Mirror"?" "Sergey was imprisoned again, this time in TbiIisi in 1982." "Tarkovsky was still here." "Very excited, he called us and said he would Iike to talk to us, to discuss how we could save Paradzhanov." "He came, and throughout the evening we talked only about Paradzhanov." "And since Tarkovsky was going to leave for italy, he said, " I'II talk to FeIIini, to Tonino Guerra," "I'II rouse the italian film community."" "When Tarkovsky was leaving, my husband went with him." "He went to see him off." "The weather was very nasty:" "a strong wind and snow." "They again talked about Sergey." "And my husband said, " Such a terrible weather, I can hardly walk."" "suddenly Tarkovsky said, emphasizing each word:" "" But it's immeasurably worse for Sergey now."" "You could feel that his thoughts and heart were actually with Sergey, in his prison cell in TbiIisi." "The new year is coming." "An awful and long year." "My regards to all." "What if God really exists?" "Chris!" "Loud and clear." "I can talk!" "I can talk." "I'M A CANDLE, I'VE BURNT OUT AT A FEAST..." "We all have understood that we can't keep silent anymore." "Today the square is full of people." "This is our victory." "And I can say now:" "no way for fascism!" "Horses, horses!" "Gingerbread horses!" "You hear, boy?" "You're not free." "You all seem to want freedom." "You talk about freedom." "But if you were given freedom, you wouldn't know what to do with it." "You have no idea what it means." "Of course, it's very painful to know that freedom came to both of them too late." "It's sad, because..." "I can imagine how many films these two artists could have made if they were given that opportunity." "Of course, in italy Tarkovsky seemed to work freely, but his films made a very sad impression on me." "I mean, they were beautiful." "But you were left with a sense of hopelessness." "I'm a candle;" "I've burnt out at a feast." "Go gather my wax in the early dawn mist" "And this page will give you a hint" "How to cry and what to take pride in," "How to give the Iast third ofjoy away" "And meet lightly your final day," "And in the shade of your fortuitous abode" "flare up posthumously like the word." "There was a Iot of mysticism in the lives of these directors, many inexplicable and incomprehensible things, perhaps, as in art itself there's much that cannot be explained." "These two great artists both had the same illness." "They had lung cancer." "And this seems to grow into an image." "They choked up on that life." "If we look at Tarkovsky's last films," "" nostalgia" and " The Sacrifice", there's that agonizing peering at the death of the protagonist." "Perhaps, every great artist wants to get a look behind the curtain, to cross that line, to know what is there." "There was something mystical about their looking in the face of an abyss, and sooner or later, the abyss itself looked at them." "Can we be together?" "Leave me alone." "After all, I simply wanted to be happy." "It's all right." "It's all right." "Everything will be all right." "Everything will be..." "ISLANDS" "filming crew:" "Levon GRIGORYAN" "Kora TSERETELI AnatoIy AVAGIN" "Vera KUNDRYUTSKOVA alexander KUNDRYURSKOV, et aI." "Appearing in the program:" "alexander ANTIPENKO" "Inna GENS Kora TSERETELI" "Levon GRIGORYAN"