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Russian Ark (2002)
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Reviews Counted: 92
Fresh: 81
Rotten:11
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Consensus: As successful as it is ambitious, Russian Ark condenses three centuries of Russian history into a single, uninterrupted, 87-minute take.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: A visually hypnotizing cinematic feat, RUSSIAN ARK is Alexsandr Sokurov's spellbinding ode to St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum. Shot in one fluid take using High Definition video cameras, the photography floats and careens... A visually hypnotizing cinematic feat, RUSSIAN ARK is Alexsandr Sokurov's spellbinding ode to St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum. Shot in one fluid take using High Definition video cameras, the photography floats and careens through the lavish corridors of the museum, examining its architectural details while following a dreamlike plot. A cast of 867 actors supply the action of the film, whether dancing the mazurka in a lively ballroom, performing a military salute, or watching a theater performance. The Marquis (Sergey Dreiden), an aged but limber European dressed in solid black, is the film's charismatic guide, leading the narrator--who is the unidentified voice behind the camera--through each doorway and into each gallery in a sweeping tour of the Hermitage. While the Marquis interacts with some of the guests, debating about Italian art with a couple of Russian scholars, delighting over rich paintings by Rubens and Van Dyck with an angelic blind woman, taking a lively brunette for a spin on the dance floor, others do not see him. Even the narrator suspects that the Marquis is a ghost, long dead and wandering the Hermitage in a quest to better understand history. Time periods, indicated by style of dress, fluctuate between the 1700s and the present. Famous Russian figures, such as Peter the Great, Nicholas I, and Catherine the Great appear and then disappear, with no explanation of their roles. Between the Marquis and the narrator, confusion reigns. They are spectators and trespassers in this mysterious space, trying to find their way. [More]
Starring: Sergey Dreiden, Maria Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky
Starring: Sergey Dreiden, Maria Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky, David Giorgobiani, Alexander Chaban, Lev Yeliseyev, Oleg Khmelnitsky, Alla Osipenko, Artem Strelnikov
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov
Producer: Jens Meurer, Andrey Deryabin, Karsten Stoter
Composer: Sergey Yevtushenko
Studio: Wellspring
Reviews for Russian Ark
Less like watching paint dry than like watching it sit on the wall and stay wet.
What is shown is ultimately less captivating than the manner in which it is shown.
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.
It’s a rich, complex, and mystery-filled journey through Russian art and history.
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.
Awash in nostalgia and dreamlike passiveness, reflecting the lack of a clear way forward for contemporary Russia.
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.
Sokurov's work here is impressive and says something interesting about how nice it might be to go back in history to simpler times.
It stands as an extraordinary technically achievement, if nothing else.
Obviously, it's an odd premise. But director Aleksandr Sokhurov does have fun with it.
Sokurov's high-tech trick is also a beautifully fluid examination of Russian history and culture, and the most gorgeous museum tour you could imagine.
A landmark achievement in the technical aspect of film and can be considered a worthwhile hour and a half.
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by: rakastaa 1/29/04
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