Synopsis
"Cascades of color, folkloric elements, fantastically stylized images of landscape, and bold editing of sound and image all frame
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, which is regarded as a turning point in
Parajanov’s career and which established his reputation internationally. The film revolves around Ivan and Marishka, two young inhabitants of a primitive mountain villages in the Carpathians whose love is doomed due to the animosity between their families. A poetic medley of experiences of death, an evocation of heathen myths and sagas, and an entreaty to folkloric traditions in equal measure, the Ukrainian production ended up in the sights of the Soviet censorship authorities, who accused the director of both formalism and nationalism and heavily restricted his ability to make films from then on, actually banning him from doing so at times." – Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art
