Russian Ark

Russian Ark

I'm not a big fan of Sokurov. Not even a small one. But I couldn't get away from the screen this time. I was glued to that. There's no real story in it, just a picture hypnotising you. The voice of main character behind the camera is so low you barely hear what he is saying, if at all. And it doesn't matter. The dialogs seem redundant and random, and the main message is obscure. Somehow it feels right.

This movie will probably overjoy you if you're already a student of Russian history and art. Or, if you are a student of film you will appreciate the technical and organisational brilliance in creating a film in one extended shot. If neither, you'll likely find sections of it rather dull. But for me, the one experience that is unbeatable here is in the last 15 minutes or so: to see the old Tsarist palace come to life with an enormous ball to which you are invited. Swirl with the dancers, cheer the accomplished orchestra, be intrigued by the pantheon of powerful figures from Russia's past (some glimpsed only briefly) - and then float away down the magnificent staircase and hallway out to the cold winter sea. Farewell Europe... a beautiful dream of times past.

From a technical and cinematographic point of view this is a unique achievement of a one-take shot through the Hermitage. The interiors and costumes are beautiful to watch. But there is no story and the continuous blabbering of this "Marquis" is mainly irritating. For the non-Russian viewer it would have made more sense if the narrator at least had added some explanation here and there. Now it is very much a thing for insiders.

I find this movie extremely boring and I regret spending ten bucks on it. Sure, the museum looks fantasic in the movie and it encouraged me to visit it sometime but as a movie, I don't find it interesting at all. Of the 10 people who watched this movie with me, 4 left before the movie ended. The remaining 6 were puzzled at what on earth was that at the end... Save your $10. Go read travel brochures or history books instead.

Just three weeks before making my first visit to St Petersburg, I was able to catch this homage to the three-hundred year history of the city by the noted director Aleksandr Sokurov. The construction of the work is simply remarkable: it was shot in one, unbroken take of an hour and a half in the munificent rooms of the Hermitage (a feat rivalled only by Alfred Hitchcock with "Rope" or Mike Figgis with "Timecode") and deployed 867 actors, an even greater number of extras, three live orchestras and 22 assistant directors. The result is a dream-like evocation of historical characters and incidents witnessed through the sweeping, swirling and gliding camerawork of cinematographer Tilman Buttner. The final scenes of a joyous ball and the thronging procession down the main staircase are simply breathtaking. I would have liked some more structure and narrative, but perhaps this reflects my conventionality and lack of knowledge of Russian history.

There are definitely some unique contributions of this film. For instance, the reality level was sometimes astonishing, because of the continuous shot. In insignificant moments between important scenes you could see historically dressed extras in totally casual situations (feeling bored, accidently bumping into one another etc). Especially the last 15 mins appeared so realistically as if they were actually shot with a surveillance camera in the 18th century. Unfortunately, the supporting characters weren't so interesting. They kept talking and doing senseless stuff. Some actions seemed so brute-force arty that they were just art for art's sake. And this made half of the film drowsy.

A film in one take! Of course let's not forget Murnau and "The Last Laugh" made 75 years before. It is a technical feat to be sure but it runs out of steam not too long into the film. We figure the trick out early on and visually, the film just seems to ramble. It feels at times like a guided tour of a huge museum where there so much great art the mind simply turns off. Trying to fit a plot of sorts into such a project is hard enough as it is, but an uninteresting story line... I enjoy long takes - please don't get me wrong on that issue - but we have been spoiled by some virtuoso directors who can use them and cut brilliantly as well. Bravo for the technique but one viewing was more than enough. Curtis Stotlar

A theatrical film astonishingly made specially for those who are able to enjoy art and its various forms all at the same time. A trip through time filled with historical passages and unforgettable photography. St. Petersburg's Museum is a point of reference for any History lover and after watching Russian Ark, I felt like applying for any position at the Museum only to let myself become a part of its resounding atmosphere. This movie will offer its beauty to any audience except for its narrative which is perhaps the only thing that might provoke some slowness in case one is not aware of its context. Everything else flows magnificently! Bravo!