Russian Ark

Rating:
Summary: 300 Years of Russian History in a Continuous, 96-minute shot
Review: After an accident, a man comes to in complete darkness, not sure where he is. When his eyes focus, he sees before him a carriage of aristocrats hurrying through the cold to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Invisible, he follows them into the palace where he meets a French Marquis. Together, they roam the halls of the Hermitage, discussing art, people and Russia while spying on Catherine the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, Pushkin and other great figures of Russian history.

Director Aleksandr Sokurov has chosen to tell his story in one continuous 96-minute shot -- a first of its kind. No editing or film breaks; just a single take, almost as if you were walking through the Hermitage with the characters. What also makes this film unique and beautiful is the seamless intermingling of time periods. In the hallway, it's the grandeur of the 18th Century with tsars and tsarinas, but open a door, and you step into the 20th Century where the general public can come to view the magnificent works of art. Through another door, and you're following Anastasia as she runs down a hallway dressed as a nymph to have a final meal with Nicholas and Alexandra.

I saw the film in the theater and am impressed with the DVD. The picture and sound qualities are very good. The "Making of " featurette is definitley worth watching, and, to me, is just as intriguing as the film. I did have a problem with some parts of the dialogue as it is hard to tell who is speaking and to whom the subtitles belong. but, this is definitely a fine movie and one worth watching many times.

Rating:
Summary: Russian Ark
Review: Russian Ark, which consists of a single uninterrupted shot that lasts 96 minutes, truly is an amazing technical feat. Other films have dealt with similar premise (the ill-conceived Timecode, for example, features 4 uncut shots simultaneously), but it's even more impressive here because the movie isn't in real-time. We follow our narrator as he roams through the Hermitage, interacting with various people and historical events that span several centuries. It's also a visually breathtaking film. The magnificent Hermitage alone is enough to cause visual sensory overload, but gorgeous costumes and perfectly executed and choreographed scenes were very impressive as well. The final dance sequence (followed by people exiting the room) can only be fully appreciated on the big screen.

Rating:
Summary: A mumbling Russian guy walks through a museum....
Review: .... and that's about it.

Rating:
Summary: watch a documentary about the Hermitage instead
Review: I was anxious to see this film but was disappointed. The film seems remarkable in two respects: first, for the tour of Russia's magnificent Hermitage Museum and secondly for the oft-remarked technical achievement of filming in a single 90-minute take. Personally, I appreciated the first and was bored by the second. Not only did it drive me, soon enough, to think "So what?", but after a while I found it very annoying and distracting. Hitchcock filmed several films with self-imposed constraints -- notably, Lifeboat with one confined set and Rope in one-reel takes -- and in later interviews he said he regretted the artificiality, which he thought detracted from the films. He was right. Furthermore, the conceit of the narrative Marquis does not work -- his monologue is strained and, again, distracting and annoying. What does work is the interesting idea of wandering between historical periods and the remarkable setting. You'd probably be better off watching a documentary on the Hermitage.

DVD extras are good -- audio commentary; a 43-minute making-of featurette; a 47-minute featurette on the museum; 6 minutes of interviews; filmographies; a trailer. The film can be heard in Russian with English or French subtitles.

Rating:
Summary: Russian History Through the Eyes of the Hermitage Museum
Review: "Russian Ark" has earned a place in cinematic history by being the longest continuous shot ever in a movie. The entire hour-and-a-half film is one uninterrupted take. No edits. No stopping. Tilman Buttner, the film's cinematographer, supported and maneuvered a digital Steadicam through 33 rooms of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum for an hour and a half while the action played out before the camera. Director Alexander Sukurov used 2,000 actors, thousands of lavish costumes, precise choreography, and impeccable timing to bring Russian history to life inside the Hermitage Museum, which was for centuries the Winter Palace for Russia's Tzars. The audience sees through the eyes of a modern Russian man, perhaps a ghost, who is able to wander the rooms of Hermitage invisible to those he observes. This man is our narrator, for lack of a better word. His voice is that of director Alexander Sukurov. The narrator encounters another man who is out of place and sometimes unseen by others, a French Marquis who lived in Russia in the early 19th century. The Marquis serves as a guide and provides a running commentary on Russian culture and art, which was not to his liking during his lifetime. As our narrator and the Marquis wander from room to room, they witness the people and history that inhabited the Hermitage through centuries of Romanov rule and into the 20th century. We catch glimpses of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I, Nicholas II and witness the last days of Tzarist government. The Marquis articulates a Western European view of Russian culture as second-rate and borrowed, while our narrator draws attention to works of Russian origin while acknowledging the tendency for Russians to collect foreign art. The film culminates in a magnificent ball with live orchestra, which would have been logistically difficult to film in multiple takes or even to organize in real life, so is especially impressive filmed in one sweeping take. Director Alexander Sukurov has said that "Russian Ark" is "a film about the Hermitage, for the Hermitage." Although it is interesting to identify and observe the various prominent figures from Russian history that we see, the film isn't a history lesson. It is more like a fly on the wall in the Hermitage Museum, with cultural commentary from both Russian and European, modern and aristocratic, points of view. The background conversations are apparently of so little importance that they are often not translated. I found myself wondering what people were saying though, so some knowledge of Russian might add to the enjoyment of the film. Filming in one long take could be considered an unnecessary gimmick, but the continuous shot does give the feeling of sweeping through the halls of the Museum and its history. "Russian Ark" does require patience. Not everything that went on within the walls of the Hermitage was interesting, and our guide was not chosen for having a winning personality. But "Russian Ark" has a majesty and originality that impresses despite the film's lack of a conventional narrative. Although it is not at all necessary to the understanding or enjoyment of the film, I found myself curious as to the identity of the Marquis: He is the Marquis de Custine, who, in 1839, published notoriously critical memoirs of his time in Russia. Russian with English subtitles.

Rating:
Summary: Precious Cargo Aboard the Film "Russian Ark"
Review: The Russian Ark is a unique film experience and is unlike other films you have seen.

It is a most unusual story about the great Hermitage Art Museum located in St. Petersburg, Russia. You (the moviegoer) are part of the story line, an evening tour of the Museum... which becomes a trip through Russian History along with a thousand "ghosts" of different historical periods.

Only one "ghost acknowledges your presence; to all the other ghosts, you are but a silent witness of the unfolding events.

The entire movie (about 96 minutes long) is shot in one, continuous, uninterrupted take. It seems like the camera never stops moving. Indeed, the entire movie was captured digitally on a hard drive as the cinema photographer with his mobile camera travels just under a mile in and around the galleries of the Hermitage Museum.
You will witness life scenes of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, a formal high ceremony in Russian court (an apology by Persian diplomats for murdering Russian diplomats in Tehran), a family dinner scene of the last Russian Czar, Nicholas II, art tours of the galleries and it all ends up with a most grand Court Dance... as you are treated to a historical recreation of a last great ball held by the Czar.
The film is a creation by Aleksandr Sokurov. It is entitled the Russian Ark because the Hermitage is an "ark" which preserves Russian culture and history for future generations. It is well named as Christians cannot fail to note another cargo theme which is stored aboard the "Russian Ark".... Christianity. A history of Christianity is told in numerous paintings on "your" tour of the galleries. In the movie reviews this author read, none took note of this powerful quiet theme- but you will indeed, as your companion ghost certainly does (this is certainly no Sister Wendy) and he seems to linger over the religious paintings... such as the dual portrait of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. This is one end of the Christianity timeline, but soon you are taken to the beginning of the Christian timeline (Abraham, according to Saint Matthew's genealogy of Jesus Christ ...Mat 1:2), to that of Abraham and the "Binding of Issac, " skillfully painted by Rembrant Harmensz van Rijn in 1635. This painting captures the highest moment in the testing of Abraham's faith... the angel halts Abraham's actions and the knife is suspended in mid-air. In the background, the sacrificial lamb caught in the thicket of thorns prefigures a future sacrifice of a "Promised Son" near the same Mount Moriah.

Here's the reason you'll love the movie... we are all "ark" people. Noah had the Ark to preserve life for a replenishment of earth. The Ark of the Covenant preserved "the testimony" (Exodus 25:22) of the laws given to Moses by God, which form the bedrock of our laws. Our Bibles are an Ark preserving God's word. And in Sukurov's movie Russian Ark, the Hermitage is featured as an Ark of Russian History, but actually preserves much more precious cargo than is professed.
Part of the previous cargo of the Russian Ark is the visual scriptures of Christianity that can speak to all... the paintings and artwork which transcended two barriers... a) the curse of the Tower of Babel and b) the thousand year edict which had existed to limit the Bible in one language only... Latin. Sukurov made a conscious decision to honestly display the cargo of the Ark. For sure, the Hermitage "Ark" preserved a visual Christian history in a nation that had for decades sought to separate its people from their God.

You are urged to book the 96 minute voyage aboard the Russian Ark... as you'll be enriched and rewarded on several levels.

Rating:
Summary: Astounding
Review: As I sat at breakfast with a friend of mine, he informed me that lovers of Russian history, such as myself, must see the film "Russian Ark." Intriugued I implored him to share it with me. Shortly thereafter we sat down together to watch this unsung masterpiece. Simply put, I was flabbergasted. Few have made and fewer still have seen such a piece of cinema. What's more, few have seen such a work of relevance. To the non-Russian this film will be a bit of a mystery... its important to have some vague proper concept of Russian history. When I say proper, I mean it.

The film begins as a man of our days -- who is never seen and acts as our eyes -- finds himself before the Winter Palace in a time not his own. As he wonders at this and follows a rowdy party apparently on their way to a ball he encounters a French diplomat also from a different era, this is the only man who can see our narrator. As our eyes and the diplomat travel from room to room of the Palace a rich and mysterious history is unraveled -- the melancholy history of Russia.

At the risk of giving away parts of the film, I will say that some of the representations are rather striking. Take, for example, the man in the cold chamber boasting to our French friend about his lovely coffin, then turning on him declaring that he is trampling upon the bodies. In confusion the Frenchman turns to our eyes and seeks an explanation. A war, he is told. This is, of course, World War II.

However, all this aside, one of the most important lessons portrayed in this film is the tragedy of Russia's identity crisis. Beginning primarily with Catherine, the European, Russia embarked in a devasting cultural makeover the effects of which left an invisible shrapnel on the people. In my opinion this is most clearly seen when, as the guests leave the ball, one woman says to a friend "It is as though it were a stranger's house." Russia desired to become a great European city, forgetting that they were Russians and unfortunately they still haven't determined what they are.

Now, about the filming. The actor portraying our endearingly arrogant French diplomat deserves an award. I cannot possible imagine the difficulty of his task and ignoring the absence of mistakes, his acting is superb... as he enters a gallery and throws his arms open in glee and occasionally finds himself dismissed from rooms. A truly unforgettable character.

The very concept of a single shot is really quite amazing. Forget lines for a moment and think of timing. The term difficult comes to mind.

To make a drawn out idea simple, watch this DVD, repeatedly. All of it. Then watch it again, and again, and then learn Russian and watch it again. I'm still trying to figure everything out.

Rating:
Summary: A disapointment saved by its technical achievement
Review: I was extremely disappointed in this film. I had wanted to see it for some time, and unable to secure a rental, I bought the DVD.

Technically, the film is an achievement. Visually, much of it is stunning. The costumes, the music, and the colors make you feel as though you are transported back in time. The use of the two narrators, the French Marquis who was somewhat dismissive of Russia and the director who was proud of his country, was an interesting device. For the narrators represent not only individuals, but also the conflict between Russia and Europe.

But there was something missing. The moviemaker wanted to use the device of going back and forth in history in the Hermitage to explore some themes of Russian history. Is Russia European or Asian? Is it imperial or a victim of imperialism? Does it have its own culture, or is its culture merely a copy of that of Europe?

These themes are explored, but unfortunately, in such a confusing way that one cannot decide if it is really important.

And Russia's great influence on the world, namely the Soviet state, is never even addressed except with a poignant scene where, against the request of the director, the Marquis enters a room to find a soldier building his own coffin. "One million dead" the Marquis is told about the siege of then Leningrad, who remarks that the price seemed too high.

The movie is part tour of the museum, part history lesson and part discourse on Russia's place in the world. But it bogs down into discussions of symbols in paintings, and Russia's relationship with Europe is forgotten.

The film was well on its way to a 1 star rating but for the last 15 minutes. Yes, that portion of the film has the feel of a costume party, but one to which I would want to be invited. The technical achievement of a single 96 minute take with a digital camera adds another star (the documentary about how the film was made is extremely interesting).

Rating:
Summary: Bad Movie in Good Costumes
Review: The costumes were great.

Everything else was horrible: plotless, uninformative, idiodic dialouge.

I kept having the feeling that the effort it took to make this picture could not possibly have been wasted on such a flat and pointless script. One could learn more about Russian history by spending half an hour with an encyclopedia.

Please watch 'Moscow Doesn't Beleive in Tears', 'War and Peace', 'Freeze, Die and Come to Life', 'Battleship Potemkin", or anything other than this rubbish.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty darn good
Review: I saw this movie at the public library, which usually shows foreign/independant films. I wouldn't give Russian Ark 5 stars, because it's kind of...well...draggy. But we must remember that this is a RUSSIAN movie made for a RUSSIAN audience; and they're used to different things there.

The visuals in this film are among the best I've ever seen. And to think, it took me 10 minutes to realize they hadn't made a camera cut...

So, basically, I'll end on this word of advice: If you are a foreign film junkie who appreciates different filmmaking techniques, then watch this movie. If you aren't, go rent something else.