The Films of Artavazd Pelechian
Artavazd Pelechian was first a metal worker and then an industrial designer before moving to Moscow in 1963, when he decided to join the prestigious Russian film school, VGIK. He studied editing according to Vertov and Eisenstein with classmates as famous as Andreï Tarkovski.
He quickly developed his theory of "counterpoint editing" or "distance editing" which he experimented with in 1969 with his film We. This editing is characterized by the repetition of "main" images – punctuated by "secondary" images that aim to emphasize the importance of these first images – that are found either explicitly or suggested by the music to which it is held (e.g. a face with such music, can reappear mentally to the viewer by the mere presence of this music). These images inhabit the imagination of the spectator and structure his films. Moving away from a variety of methods aimed at representing the visible world, Pelechian seeks to stimulate the viewer's imagination through the use of non-contextualized archival images without any dialogue. In addition, he uses music, which is inseparable from the image, and which must also be as expressive as possible. For him, it is a question of creating an "emotional magnetic field". This musicality of the editing, made of cuts and repetitions, of verses and choruses, is at the service of a cyclical vision of life (and of his work): made of seasons, wars, peace, End and Life.
"It is no accident that a poem must be learned by heart. The head is the organ of exchanges, but the heart, the loving organ of repetition." - Gilles Deleuze
If Pelechian's work is centered around a profound humanism and the relationship between humans and their environment, it is also inhabited by the Armenian trauma. Coming from this land of centuries-old conflicts that culminated in the genocide perpetrated by Turkey (still non-recognized), Pelechian has never ceased to represent the Armenian exodus and reunification. After a break of almost 20 years, the filmmaker has signed a last film, this time taking the viewpoint of Nature: has it come for revenge?
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On the train from Moscow to Yerevan, Pelechian films men and women of different ages and ethnicities. All caught up in this journey, together in spite of themselves, any figure is diluted in its contemplation and turns to abstraction. A hymn to travel where the action is punctuated by the sound of the wagons on the rails.
We
The "we" that serves as the title of the film refers to the Armenian people and the genocide they suffered. Pelechian uses images that he shot himself, edited with archival footage. A film that underlines a fierce will to share, to recognize, and to achieve universal peace.
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On the train from Moscow to Yerevan, Pelechian films men and women of different ages and ethnicities. All caught up in this journey, together in spite of themselves, any figure is diluted in its contemplation and turns to abstraction. A hymn to travel where the action is punctuated by the sound of the wagons on the rails.
We
The "we" that serves as the title of the film refers to the Armenian people and the genocide they suffered. Pelechian uses images that he shot himself, edited with archival footage. A film that underlines a fierce will to share, to recognize, and to achieve universal peace.
