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Mikhail Vartanov (Russian: Михаил Вартанов, Armenian: Միքայել Վարդանով, French: Mikhaïl Vartanov; b. February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation, d. December 31, 2009, Hollywood, California) was a Soviet cinematographer who made significant contribution to world cinema with the documentary films Parajanov: The Last Spring and Seasons.[1][2][3][4]

Mikhail Vartanov
Михаил Вартанов
Միքայել Վարդանով
Born(1937-02-21)February 21, 1937
RSFSR, USSR (now Russian Federation)
DiedDecember 31, 2009(2009-12-31) (aged 72)
Hollywood, USA
OccupationDirector, cinematographer, screenwriter, art critic
Notable workParajanov: The Last Spring
Websitehttps://institute.parajanov.com

He is considered an important cinematographer and documentarian of his generation, noted for artistic collaborations with Sergei Parajanov and such influential documentary films as Parajanov: The Last Spring, 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. Due to this the film was censored and suppressed; 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


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 Erased Faces (1987), Minas: A Requiem (1989), and the influential film Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) made in a war-torn, blockaded Armenia during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.


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."[8]

"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."[9]


Quotes about Vartanov



Awards and honors



Legacy


Parajanov-Vartanov Institute was established in Hollywood in 2010 to study, preserve and promote the artistic legacies of Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov.[16]


Filmography


Year English title Original title Romanization Notes
1969 The Color of Armenian Land (in Russian) Цвет Армянской Земли Tsvet armyanskoy zemli Banned debut film. Behind the scenes of Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegrantes. Documentary trilogy, part I.
1971 Autumn Pastoral (in Russian) Осенчяя пастораль Osenn'yaya pastoral' Written by Artavazd Peleshian. Shelved.
1972 And So Every Day (in Russian) И так каждый день I tak kazhdiy dyen' Scored by Tigran Mansurian. Vartanov narrates for the first time. Black & white. Shelved.
1974 Kadjaran (in Russian) Каджаран Kajaran' Unfinished. Vartanov fired.
1975 (cinematographer) Seasons of the Year (in Russian) Bремена Года Vremena Goda' Directed by Artavazd Peleshian, lensed by Vartanov.
1979 (cinematographer) The Mulberry Tree (in Russian) Шелковица Shelkovitsa' Directed by Gennadi Melkonian, lensed by Vartanov.
1984 Roots (in Russian) Корни Korni' First directing work in 10 years. A project deemed unfilmable by all filmmakers at Armenfilm (Armenia)
1987 Erased Faces (in Armenian) Ջնջվաց դեմքեր Jenjevatz demker'
1989 Minas: A Requiem (in Armenian) Մինաս. ռեկվիէմ Minas. rekviem' Documentary trilogy, part II
1992 Paradjanov: The Last Spring (in English) Parajanov: The Confession Documentary trilogy, part III

References


  1. Francis Ford Coppola on Mikhail Vartanov
  2. International Documentary Festival Amsterdam Top 10
  3. British Film Institute Greatest Documentaries
  4. Martin Scorsese on Vartanov
  5. Letters of Sergei Parajanov to Mikhail Vartanov
  6. Letters of Mikhail Vartanov to Sergei Parajanov
  7. Letters
  8. Mikhail Vartanov quotes on Parajanov.com
  9. Mikhail Vartanov on Sergei Parajanov
  10. Francis Ford Coppola on Mikhail Vartanov Archived 2015-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Hollywood Reporter Mikhail Vartanov
  12. Saroyan nicknamed Vartanov the Eyemoman after the early 20th century movie camera Eyemo
  13. Agnieszka Holland on Mikhail Vartanov Archived 2015-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Danish Film Institute
  15. Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
  16. Parajanov-Vartanov Institute

Selected bibliography



English language sources



Foreign language sources





На других языках

- [en] Mikhail Vartanov

[ru] Вартанов, Михаил Мартиросович

Михаи́л Мартиросович Варта́нов (арм. Միքայել Վարդանով, англ.  Mikhail Vartanov, Mikhail Vardanov, Mikael Vardanov, при рождении — Вартанянц; 21 февраля 1937 — 31 декабря 2009[1]) — советский и американский кинооператор, кинорежиссёр, сценарист, мастер документального кинематографа. Лауреат премии «Ника», Всесоюзного и международных кинофестивалей в Беверли Хиллз и Сан-Франциско.


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