Movie Poster of the Week: "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors"

If ever there was a director whose work should be represented by magnificent posters, it is Sergei Paradjanov. His symbol-laded films, and especially his 1968 masterpiece The Color of Pomegranates, are a designer's gift: a parade of meticulously composed, gorgeously hued graphic images. But I have seen very few good posters for Paradjanov films. This one-sheet (33" x 45" and reportedly a Soviet design made for French export) for his delirious break-out film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a rare exception. Made in 1964 after a decade spent laboring in socialist realism, Paradjanov's lysergic fever-dream of a movie is a tragic love story set in the Carpathian mountains of the Ukraine. With impressive moustaches. It is also available for viewing right here on The Auteurs, so if you've never seen it before do yourself a huge favor.