Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov broke boundaries with his dreamlike vision of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russian Ark. It's the first feature-length narrative film shot in a single take (on digital video, using a specially designed disc instead of tape). Russian Ark is shot from the point-of-view of an unseen narrator, as he explores the museum and travels through Russian history. The audience sees through his eyes as he witnesses Peter the Great (Maksim Sergeyev) abusing one of his
generals; Catherine the Great (Maria Kuznetsova) desperately searching for a bathroom; and, in the grand finale, the sumptuous Great Royal Ball of 1913. The narrator is eventually joined by a sarcastic and eccentric 19th century French Marquis (Sergey Dreiden), who travels with him throughout the huge grounds, encountering various historical figures and viewing the legendary artworks on display. While the narrator only interacts with the Marquis (he seems to be invisible to all the other inhabitants), the Marquis occasionally interacts with visitors and former residents of the museum. The film was obviously shot in one day, but the cast and crew rehearsed for months to time their movements precisely with the flow of the camera while capturing the complex narrative, with elaborate costumes from different periods, and several trips out to the exterior of the museum. Tilman Büttner, the director of photography, was responsible for capturing it all in one single Steadicam shot. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
[Characterizes] history as a large rush of information so huge, alive, and easy to get lost in that it would feel a shame if there existed nothing to give us a conduit to it.
Its technical bravura is impossible to deny. Even those whose knowledge of Russian history stems mainly from Sympathy For The Devil lyrics will find much to savor here.
Tras 12 minutos de escena de baile y orquesta, uno empieza a desear que los bolcheviques irrumpan en el palacio de una buena vez y empiecen a rodar cabezas.
The material is rather heady, but one needn't digest it in a single viewing. Even if you don't know much about Russian history, the work is breathtaking as a sort of cinematic ballet.
The ark here is the famous Hermitage of St.Petersburg, mysteriously afloat on the sea of time and of Russian history. The camera glidingly takes us through the opulent splendour of the great halls, lingering ever so over the detail in the architecture or some exquisite furniture, and we see those walkways and rooms
peopled with the souls that must have tarried there before (as in a dream ... for they neither see nor hear us). And so a history lesson, a memorial if you will, a toast to what was Mother Russia (and not that whole Soviet business, what was that?), with a eye to what more may come.
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