Mikhail Vartanov Explained

Mikhail Vartanov
Native Name:Михаил Вартанов
Միքայել Վարդանով
Birth Date:21 February 1937
Birth Place:Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Notable Works:
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S
Occupation:Director, cinematographer, screenwriter, art critic
Website:https://www.parajanov.com

Mikhail Vartanov (Russian: Михаил Вартанов|links=no, Armenian: Միքայել Վարդանով|links=no, February 21, 1937 – December 29, 2009) was a Soviet filmmaker and cinematographer who made significant contribution to world cinema with the documentary films and Seasons.[1] [2] [3] [4]

He is considered an important cinematographer and documentarian of his generation, noted for artistic collaborations with Sergei Parajanov and such influential documentary films as , The Seasons (directed by Artavazd Peleshyan), The Color of Armenian Land, and a series of essays including The Unmailed Letters.

Early career

Vartanov's debut film, The Color of Armenian Land, marked the beginning of his trademark style, afterwards dubbed as the "direction of undirected action." This documentary, featuring a stylized silent commentary by painter Martiros Saryan, also featured Vartanov's friends, the dissident artists Minas Avetisyan and Sergei Parajanov. The film was censored in the Soviet Union; leading up to Avetisyan's assassination and Parajanov's imprisonment shortly after.

Friendship with Sergei Parajanov and the blacklist

Mikhail Vartanov had a close relationship with imprisoned director Sergei Parajanov. He was first acquainted with Parajanov's work in 1964, having watched the latter's film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and the test footage of the unfinished Kiev Frescoes as a student at Moscow’s Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Their lifelong friendship began after they met for the first time in 1967, in Armenia, and discussed the screenplay of The Color of Pomegranates (also known as Sayat Nova).

Vartanov's next film Autumn Pastoral—written by Artavazd Peleshyan and scored by composer Tigran Mansurian—was shelved. After Sergei Parajanov was arrested in Kiev in 1973, Vartanov immediately protested to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The recently declassified document proved that it was that letter in support of Parajanov that prompted the intensified harassment that Vartanov endured, and his subsequent firing from the Armenfilm Studios 4 months after Paradjanov's imprisonment. In a letter from prison, Parajanov wrote to Vartanov: "You and your purity are colliding with circumstances and predators… That's life."[5]

Cinematographer

Peleshyan and Gennadi Melkonian petitioned the Soviet Russian and Armenian authorities to work with Vartanov, who was by this time blacklisted and unemployed, and he was eventually allowed to participate as a cinematographer in two essay films: The Seasons (also translated as The Seasons of the Year, 1975) and The Mulberry Tree (1979).

Essayist

After a 9-year absence from directing, Vartanov was asked to save a troubled project, The Roots (1983) which he later wrote was "the best film made in Armenia that year." During this period he also worked as a university professor of cinema and photography, while publishing his writings. They appeared in several languages, including French, in Cahiers du cinéma.

Later career and death

For over 20 years, Vartanov's films had been largely suppressed, unmentioned by press, or blocked from submission to foreign film festivals. In a letter to the imprisoned Parajanov, Vartanov wrote, quoting his favorite poet Boris Pasternak: "the time will come and the power of meanness and malice would be overcome by the spirit of kindness."[6] Parajanov responded to Vartanov: "Dear Misha, I received your amazing letter... Never have you been more accurate in evaluating the world and expressing yourself...".[7]

Mikhail Vartanov's last documentary trilogy consisted of The Color of Armenian Land (1969), Minas: A Requiem (1989), and the influential film (1992).

Vartanov died in Hollywood on December 29, 2009.

Legacy

Parajanov-Vartanov Institute was established in Hollywood in 2010 to study, preserve and promote the artistic legacies of Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov.[8]

Quotes

"In our land, the government manufactures the biography of the Artist. It honors and awards one, for nothing, and it dishonors and imprisons the other -- a wise government -- it desires to turn both into obedient slaves."[9]

"Probably, besides the film language suggested by Griffith and Eisenstein, the world cinema has not discovered anything revolutionarily new until the 'Color of Pomegranates,' not counting the generally unaccepted language of the 'Andalusian Dog' by Bunuel."[10]

Quotes about Vartanov

Awards and honors

Filmography

YearEnglish titleOriginal titleRomanizationNotes
1969The Color of Armenian Land Цвет Армянской ЗемлиTsvet armyanskoy zemliBanned debut film. Behind the scenes of Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegrantes. Documentary trilogy, part I.
1971Autumn Pastoral Осенчяя пасторальOsenn'yaya pastoralWritten by Artavazd Peleshian. Shelved.
1972And So Every Day И так каждый деньI tak kazhdiy dyenScored by Tigran Mansurian. Vartanov narrates for the first time. Black & white. Shelved.
1974Kadjaran КаджаранKajaranUnfinished. Vartanov fired.
1975 (cinematographer)Seasons of the Year Bремена ГодаVremena GodaDirected by Artavazd Peleshian, lensed by Vartanov.
1979 (cinematographer)The Mulberry Tree ШелковицаShelkovitsaDirected by Gennadi Melkonian, lensed by Vartanov.
1984 Roots КорниKorniFirst directing work in 10 years. A project deemed unfilmable by all filmmakers at Armenfilm (Armenia)
1987Erased Faces Ջնջվաց դեմքերJenjevatz demker
1989Minas: A Requiem Մինաս. ռեկվիէմMinas. rekviemDocumentary trilogy, part II
1992Paradjanov: The Last Spring Parajanov: The ConfessionDocumentary trilogy, part III

Selected bibliography

English language sources

Foreign language sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-system-of-down-parajanov-vartanov-institute-833184 Francis Ford Coppola on Mikhail Vartanov
  2. https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/86eb0279-3732-407f-91c3-74f331eec6cc/seasons-of-the-year/ International Documentary Festival Amsterdam Top 10
  3. https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sight-sound-magazine/greatest-docs British Film Institute Greatest Documentaries
  4. https://www.parajanov.com/ Martin Scorsese on Vartanov
  5. http://www.parajanov.com/vartanov.html Letters of Sergei Parajanov to Mikhail Vartanov
  6. http://www.parajanov.com/vartanov.html Letters of Mikhail Vartanov to Sergei Parajanov
  7. http://www.parajanov.com/vartanov.html Letters
  8. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20141022052353/http://www.parajanov.com/institute.html Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
  9. http://www.parajanov.com/vartanov.html Mikhail Vartanov quotes on Parajanov.com
  10. http://www.parajanov.com/main.html Mikhail Vartanov on Sergei Parajanov
  11. http://www.parajanov.com/institute.html Francis Ford Coppola on Mikhail Vartanov
  12. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-system-of-down-parajanov-vartanov-institute-833184 Hollywood Reporter Mikhail Vartanov
  13. https://www.parajanov.com Jim Jarmusch on Vartanov
  14. http://www.parajanov.com/saroyan.html Saroyan nicknamed Vartanov the Eyemoman after the early 20th century movie camera Eyemo
  15. http://www.parajanov.com/institute.html Agnieszka Holland on Mikhail Vartanov
  16. https://www.dfi.dk/cinemateket/biograf/filmserier/serie/sergej-paradjanov-mikhail-vartanov Danish Film Institute
  17. https://www.parajanov.com/retrospectives Parajanov-Vartanov Institute