Director: Aleksandr Sokurov
Russian Ark is a stunning achievement in technical filmmaking. Filmed entirely in one take in St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum, the camera glides past crowds, alights on sculptures and paintings, and somehow manages to stay out of everything's way. The final 'scene' - the staging of a ball complete with orchestra and dancers all in period costumes - is quite simply breathtaking.
The problem is, the film relies on this 'Museum Tour' trope - our main character is a man who's lost and invisible, and he is a kind of narrator - the entire film is seen though his perspective. The secondary character is a lost 18th century French nobleman who thinks Russian culture is alternately backwoods or derivative. Furthermore, it's even more educational film-like when random passers-by will explain what a painting is or what something means. While there's some interesting insights into Russian culture, the film sags in the middle. Despite the fact that the film is all in one take and therefore emulates life as it's lived, we're still being reminded that we're watching a staged thing. I suspect this film would be far better on the big screen.
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