Russian Ark (2002)

Russian Ark, Alexander SokurovA combination of incredibly poor planning and the exigencies of our Netflix list in one week produced two arty but, let’s face it, slow-moving movies set in museums [Museum Hours reviewed 10-22]. Russian Ark (trailer), too, had rave reviews from critics and is perhaps best known for the incredible way it was shot. The whole thing—all 96 minutes of it—is one unbroken take. Really. Filming in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the royal-palace-cum-art-treasurehouse, director Alexander Sokurov and his cinematographer Tillman Buttner had use of this incomparable setting for a single day. You can say this for them, they made the most of it.

The film follows a mysterious and unnamed museum visitor, purportedly the Marquis de Custine, who wanders its hallways, back passages, and famous galleries, encountering notable Russians from the past—Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, the Romanovs (that’s the Romanov daughters, destined to be gunned down in the Communist Revolution in the picture). For the most part he is unseen, or at least ignored, as he turns and talks to the camera (you).

There’s no plot, just this drifting, mostly through the 19th century. But it’s an incredible tour and a costume-lover’s dream. At one point the Marquis heads into a ballroom where an orchestra plays for hundreds of dancers and onlookers. After this spectacular ball, the camera watches the guests leave, ultimately moves ahead of the crowd, and exits the museum. Fini. How I interpret all this is that the people in the scenes, like Noah’s giraffes and sheep and bluejays, may have led separate, unconnected lives (in this case, over time), but they are all inevitably connected in the arc [!] of Russian history.

Some reviewers asked whether the film would have received such a positive critical response if it had been made in the usual way, with cuts and edits, since images and scenes accumulate, disconnectedly, without any discernible central point. Roger Ebert’s response was “ʻRussian Ark,’ as it stands, is enough. . . . If cinema is sometimes dreamlike, then every edit is an awakening. ʻRussian Ark’ spins a daydream made of centuries.” (Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating: 89%; audience score: 81%).