Born in Georgia to Armenian parents, and studying under Dovzhenko in the Ukraine, he developed a unique cinematic language in which costume, carpets, visual effects and historical locations form surreal tableaux. His first major film, Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors, fused Chagall-like dreamscapes with a folk tale of life in the Carpathian mountains of the Ukraine. This eventually led to his him arrest on the grounds of "Ukrainian nationalism".

His masterpiece, The Colour of Pomegranates (1968) - a hymn to a lost Armenia in the form of an oblique biopic of the national poet Sayat Nova - was shelved by the authorities. He was then imprisoned for 5 years hard labour on trumped up charges of "homosexuality, corruption, illegal trafficking in religious icons and incitement to suicide."

His two full-length films after his final release (in response to international protest) were The Legend of the Suram Fortress and Ashik Kerib. They both displayed his mastery of the plastic arts to achieve stunning tableaux; in these later films, music was also used to great effect.

All his films can be considered as nationalist and thus conflict with the Soviet authorities was inevitable; however, apart from statements of nationality, his films are not overtly political. He did script a bleak political fable, drawing on his prison experiences, which was filmed after his death (Swan Lake: The Zone, 1991). In his conflict and censorship by the authorities, he was similar to Andrei Tarkovsky, whose films he was fond of; but unlike Tarkovsky, he was not allowed to leave for the west.

Paradjanov's films remain stunningly beautiful pictorial presentations that leave the viewer with a yearning to visit the countries he filmed.

Simon Eaton