Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Short description
Set in the 19th-century Carpathian Mountains, this drama follows the tragic romance between Ivan and Marichka. Their love is complicated by a long-standing feud between their families, as Marichka is the daughter of the man who killed Ivan's father. After Marichka dies in a river while attempting to reach him, a grieving Ivan eventually marries a woman named Palagna. However, he remains haunted by his lost love, leading Palagna to seek the help of a sorcerer to win his heart.
The film was directed by Sergei Parajanov, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ivan Chendej. This 1965 production from Dovzhenko Film Studios is the first in a chronological list of films directed by Parajanov, preceding The Color of Pomegranates. The main cast features Ivan Mykolaichuk, Larysa Kadochnykova, Tatyana Bestayeva, Nikolay Grinko, Spartak Bagashvili, and Leonid Yengibarov.
The movie has been well received by audiences and critics. It holds a 7.8 rating on IMDb based on 9,500 votes and a 7.5 rating on TMDB from 196 votes. Film critics gave the movie a higher score of 8.1 across 40 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- During filming in the Carpathians, Sergei Parajanov and cinematographer Yuri Ilyenko had a terrible falling out. During another argument, Ilyenko told the director: “You will die tomorrow at six in the morning. I challenge you to a duel. We will shoot from six paces.” “We will shoot with Hutsul pistols,” Parajanov replied. They took the weapons from a local resident. Ilyenko himself made buckshot from tea and pages of the script. They arrived at the duel with seconds: Parajanov with his assistant, Ilyenko with his wife Larisa Kadonnikova and the director of the film studio. They arranged the meeting on an old bridge over the Cheremosh River. As soon as Ilyenko stepped onto it, the water washed away part of the beams, and the cinematographer himself had to be pulled out of the water. The duel was called off.
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