Director Aleksandr Sokurov brings you on a beautiful ninety minute journey in revolutionary 2002 film Russian Ark. This film is a mark above all the rest and the first of its kind; the entire movie is filmed in one entire long shot. There are no cuts, and there was no room for mistakes. Taking place in the breathtaking Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and including extravagantly detailed costumes and props, the film was truly beautiful to watch. Because there were no cuts, the film is not necessarily separated into scenes. However, different events are distinguished as the characters move from room to room. The first ten minutes were particularly eventful as the camera moved throughout the palace, passing through corridors and traveling up steep flights of steps. In these ten minutes the camera hardly stopped moving, and consequently the viewer gets to see the interesting passages within the Hermitage museum. It is truly revolutionary that these first ten minutes, let alone the entire movie, is one single shot. It is an amplification of Orson Welles' opening sequence to A Touch of Evil. While taking the same concept of a single shot, Russian Ark took everything to the next level, making its mark in cinematic history. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is one where the Frenchman comes upon a corridor where five or so girls are trying to listen against a closed door. As he approaches them, they begin to run down the hall, spreading their arms and strongly resembling young fairies with their bright dresses and flowers in their long hair, or as birds like the Frenchman describes them. They dance, swoop and twirl, and the camera follows them to take the viewer on a ride as well, twisting down the corridor. It was a beautiful scene, yet simply a small part of the masterpiece that is Russian Ark.
Director Aleksandr Sokurov brings you on a beautiful ninety minute journey in revolutionary 2002 film Russian Ark. This film is a mark above all the rest and the first of its kind; the entire movie is filmed in one entire long shot. There are no cuts, and there was no room for mistakes. Taking place in the breathtaking Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and including extravagantly detailed costumes and props, the film was truly beautiful to watch. Because there were no cuts, the film is not necessarily separated into scenes. However, different events are distinguished as the characters move from room to room. The first ten minutes were particularly eventful as the camera moved throughout the palace, passing through corridors and traveling up steep flights of steps. In these ten minutes the camera hardly stopped moving, and consequently the viewer gets to see the interesting passages within the Hermitage museum. It is truly revolutionary that these first ten minutes, let alone the entire movie, is one single shot. It is an amplification of Orson Welles' opening sequence to A Touch of Evil. While taking the same concept of a single shot, Russian Ark took everything to the next level, making its mark in cinematic history. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is one where the Frenchman comes upon a corridor where five or so girls are trying to listen against a closed door. As he approaches them, they begin to run down the hall, spreading their arms and strongly resembling young fairies with their bright dresses and flowers in their long hair, or as birds like the Frenchman describes them. They dance, swoop and twirl, and the camera follows them to take the viewer on a ride as well, twisting down the corridor. It was a beautiful scene, yet simply a small part of the masterpiece that is Russian Ark.