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Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors Movie Review

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a 1965 Ukrainian drama film directed by Sergei Parajanov and starring Ivan Mykolaichuk. It’s a very slight in plot, but artistic movie.

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“Ivan and Marichka“

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It tells a Carpathian story of the young Ivan who falls in love with the daughter of his father’s killer among the Hutsul people of Ukraine. The authenticity factor here is undeniable as these people have never been portrayed in fiction before and following their traditions and way of life was intriguing. The Carpathian setting was gorgeously depicted and explored.

I will talk about the technical aspects in just a minute, but let’s first state the obvious – the storyline here is not great. It’s the main reason why this movie is overrated and the case of a lost potential having in mind that it would have been amazing had it had a meatier storyline. But the story is weak, the characterization is middling, and as a result the movie is not as engaging as it should have been.

It still manages to float thanks to its technical aspects, which are uniformly fantastic. I did like the acting from everybody involved. The actors performed very well and made their weak characters at least somewhat better and more memorable. The direction from Sergei Parajanov is strong and very artistic. He has a very strong filmmaking style that I found admirable.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is above all else a visual marvel. An audio-visual marvel to be precise. Its score is truly beautiful and fitting for its time period and setting. It makes you acquainted with this culture so well while the editing is absolutely phenomenal throughout.

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Sometimes, the editing was downright inspiring as some cuts were outstanding and very memorable in their artistry and emotional levity that they produced. The imagery is frequently stunning and the camera movements are so wild and creative. Yes, the movie surely is artistic and inspired, but I wish it had the plot to back all of those visuals up, leading to only a solid movie that is to me rather overrated.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors manages to somewhat compensate for its lackluster plot and characterization with great artistry in its incredible cinematography, a terrific score, fantastic direction from Sergei Parajanov and frequently inspired editing. It depicts its setting so well while consistently being very atmospheric. Still, the plot remains very weak, and as a result the movie is only solid and quite overrated.

My Rating – 3.5