Russian Ark Review:

Synopsis

Magically transported to St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum in the early 1700s, a contemporary filmmaker and a cynical 19th Century French diplomat become accomplices in an extraordinary journey through Russia's turbulent past as they focus on three centuries of Russian history and culture during the times of Peter the Great to Tsar Nicholas II. The Hermitage museum is the Russian Ark, affectionately guarding art and history until the world sees better days. The breathtaking cinematography from acclaimed Russian film director Aleksandr Sokurov, is the first ever full length feature film, shot in a single unedited take.

Critique

Deploying a cast of over 2000 actors and extras, the single-take gives a feeling of reality. The movie talks about culture, art, politics, history, religion and how the events of that time, define Russian Federation's current existence. The film takes the audience into a thought provoking and fascinating tour of the grand Hermitage palace, the largest museum of Russian art and one of the largest and richly supplied museums in the world period. The museum including the Zimnii Dvorets (Winter Palace), were once the official residence of Catherine the Great. The journey through 33 magnificent rooms shows real works of art by famous artists in their grand splendour. The camera moves as though it were your own eyes. Worth mentioning are the memorable characters such as Empress Catherine II, Peter the Great punishing one of his Commanders and Nicholas II, the last Russian tsar hosting the Great Royal Ball of 1913, the last such ceremony of its kind. The image of the final sequence as everybody walks out en masse is majestic, strong as well as mystical in nature and makes up for some of the preliminary lengthy scenes that are tedious.

The last procession is visually the most enjoyable aspect of cameraman Tilman Buttner's gliding and sweeping camera movement. The museum looks magnificent in his lens. The clothing and wigs are breathtakingly lavish and splendid. Every scene looks like a piece of art. Portrayal of historical figures and various nobility, including the Russian novelist Alexander Pushkin in and out all the way is all part of the 'storyline'. The set, period costumes and make-up is impressive and the music suits the environment with the effective use of three live orchestras.

Presented in the aspect ratio of 16:9 enhanced widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the transfer onto the DVD is satisfactory and will fascinate collectors and art lovers with its simplicity and good contrast level. Special features include Weblinks, theatrical trailer, commentaries by producer Jens Meurer and film theorist, Dr Barbara Creed. The documentary on the making of Russian Ark, 'In One Breath', is perhaps the most notable addition to the special features. The audio on the disc lacks the fine tuning and it appears the director may have had the Yeltsin effect on the day of his interview as no commentary whatsoever from the filmmaker.

Overall, Sokurov has made an amazingly beautiful and well-measured film of definite quality with less talk and more work. The execution seems like a dream-like walk with historical Russian characters and events as if the viewer is actually there. Explores both the Russian history and Hermitage with one shot, which effectively means the actors had to get it right the first time. It's an astonishing magical achievement. The technical brilliance and boldness is beyond question and definitely deserves accolade for originality and innovation.

OVERALL 4 out of 5

Mos Khan

Reviewed from DVD distributed in Australia by AV Channel

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Russian Ark and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.