Die Wikinger (1958)
49KDie Wikinger: Directed by Richard Fleischer. With Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh. A slave and a Viking prince fight for the love of a captive princess.
“Almost everybody talks about the filmu0026#39;s beauty and the difficulty of its understanding. Itu0026#39;s true. But the difficulty is not from the directoru0026#39;s pretension or other shortcomings. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen this film was first released in Soviet Union, it was shown in third-rated theaters and with limited number of prints. It was not an original version of Sergo Parajanov, because it was re-edited by another director(directoru0026#39;s version is said to have been lost for ever, after frequent showing in professionalsu0026#39; circle). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe filmu0026#39;s title was also changed–u0026quot;The Color of Pomegranatesu0026quot; was the title which the administrators of USSRu0026#39;s cinema policy selected to deny u0026quot;biographicalu0026quot; character of the film. In fact, we can see at the very first title that says u0026quot;This film is not a biographical film about Sayat Nova…u0026quot;. In short, they didnu0026#39;t admit such an extraordinary approach in making a film about historical important persons. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eParajanovu0026#39;s artistic intention apparently went too far, ahead of his time. He wanted to identify the classic poet with himself through the magical play of cinematography, multi-layered mirror-like structure made of image and sound. u0026quot;Sayat Novau0026quot;–itu0026#39;s meu0026quot;, wrote the director in his screenplay by his own hand. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSoviet censorship may have cut some shots or shortened some episodes, to make meanings and intention,which originally were clear,remain ambiguous. For example, Sayat Novau0026#39;s anxiety for his Christian homeland threatened by Islamic enemies(this theme is clearly developed in the filmu0026#39;s scenario recently published in Russian).Parajanv, an artist indifferent to politic issues, didnu0026#39;t think that religious theme, as well as aesthetic u0026quot;anomalyu0026quot;, might be very dangerous for Soviet directors after the end of u0026quot;time of thawu0026quot;. Thus the film couldu0026#39;n be a full realization of authorsu0026#39;s original scenario.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNevertheless,the difficult situation didnu0026#39;t distort the filmu0026#39;s concept and vision as a whole. u0026quot;Sayat Novau0026quot; is still brilliant art of work,and, as many masterpieces of Cinema, will overcome Time by its beauty.”
