Movielogr
Russian Ark (2002)
Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A ghost and a French marquis wander through the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, encountering scenes from many different periods of its history.
Length 99 minutes
Actors
Sergei Dreiden | Mariya Kuznetsova | Leonid Mozgovoy | Mikhail Piotrovsky | Edisher Giorgobiani | Aleksandr Chaban | Lev Eliseev | Oleg Khmelnitsky | Alla Osipenko | Artyom Strelnikov | Tamara Kurenkova | Maksim Sergeev | Natalya Nikulenko | Elena Rufanova | Yelena Spiridonova | Konstantin Anisimov | Aleksey Barabash | Ilya Shakunov | Aleksandr Kulikov | Anna Aleksakhina | Vladimir Baranov | Anna Antonelli | Valentin Bukin | Svetlana Gaytan | Vadim Guschin | Kirill Dateshidze | Mikhail Dorofeev | Valentina Egorenkova | Oleg Efremov II | Sergei Losev | Vadim Lobanov | Vladimir Lisetsky | Aleksandr Malnykin | Kirill Miller | Viktor Mikhaylov | Sergey Muchenikov | Sergey Nadporozhskiy | Yuriy Orlov | Aleksandr Razbash | Boris Smolkin | Evgeniy Filatov | Yuri Khomutyansky | Anatoli Shvedersky | Valery Gergiev | Igor Volkov | Julian Makarov | Svetlana Svirko | Konstantin Mukhin | Sasha Durpfen | Yuriy Ageykin | Alexandr Andreev | Dmitri Alexandrov | Aleksandr Alekseev | Andrey Arshinnikov | Ismat Ashurov | Artashes Aleksanyan | Dmitri Bekoyev | Oleg Palmov | Aleksandr Tsybulsky | Aleksandr Petrov | Serhiy Romaniuk | Nikolay Gravshin | Konstantin Demidov | Anatoly Dubanov | Aleksey Emelyanov | Dmitriy Zebrov | Yefim Ioffe | Olga Kalmykova | Valentina Kasyanova | Yuriy Kalugin | Valery Kozinets | Aleksei Krymov | Igor Okrepilov | Irina Osnovina | Valeri Smolyakov | Boris Sokolov | Nikolai Fyodortsov | Valeriy Filonov | Darya Khudyakova | Vladimir Chernyshov | Andrey Shchepochkin | Anya Antonelly | Egor Bakulin | Olga Belyavskaya | Mark Gavrilov | Yekaterina Gorokhovskaya | Anna Ekaterininskaya | Sergey Yelikov | Aleksandra Kulikova | Nataliya Kadochnikova | Mariya Lavrova | Maria Mescheryakova | Artur Mkrtchyan | Aleksey Oding | Alla Oding | Kirill Petrov | Rodion Prikhodko | Andrey Rodimov | Yuliya Rudina | Elena Simonova | Kirill Ulyanov | Aleksey Fedkin | Борис Хасанов | Rosina Tsidulko | Yuliya Shubareva | Svetlana Nemirovskaya | Vsevolod Tsurilo | Nataliya Tarynycheva | Khelga Filippova | Vyacheslav Manucharov | Elena Savelieva | Anna Dyukova | Igor Beschastnov | Aleksey Vasilev | Mikhail Terentyev | Mikhail Sharautin | Sergei Peregudov | Yuliya Gorshenina | Gali Abaydulov | Roman Rolbin | Pavel Kornakov | Aleksandr Karpov | Vladimir Belovolsky | Alexander Balonin | Galina Burkina | Eyyup Can Ulas | Alexander Sokurov | Svetlana Smirnova | Oleg Losev | Filipp Baron | Владимир Севастьянихин
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/29/2020 | TV | Blu-ray | Library | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
This movie came up a lot in the discussions around 1917 because the entire film was done as one long take. However, unlike 1917 which benefited from some movie magic in editing, Russian Ark was actually filmed as one 90 minute continuous take. Hearing this I wanted to see for myself. Initially I thought there were edits but after my viewing I did a little research then watched the documentary feature about the production. This is in fact filmed in one take, which is astounding. Of course there is some digital magic done in post (mostly around the ending and some touch-ups).
Oddly I was not really distracted by this once the movie settles into what it’s doing. I will say that I wish I had known more about the premise before viewing the film. That might have made the initial watch more interesting / engaging for me. As it was, I felt like I was viewing a nice tour of this museum, Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. It reminded me of YouTube videos by travel vloggers yet done in period. What I didn’t realize is that this experiment capturing many periods over the past 300 years.
Initially I was put off b/c I didn’t know this and was wondering why they would have certain pieces of art on display. Then the roaming “ghost” and his physical companion, the Marquis de Custine, encounter a woman clearly dressed in more contemporary fashion along with her modern hairstyle that I realized there was more going on.
The movie is a fascinating document but but not one that pulled me into the drama and commentary on art and culture. Yet as I mentioned had I known what the premise was and the intent going into it, I may have enjoyed it more.
No comments yet. Log in and be the first!