“Russian Ark” is an unusual film about a “ghost” wandering through a Russian museum encountering various individuals, famous and obscure, from Russia’s history. The ghostly narrator is actually the movie’s director, Alexander Sokurov, and the museum is the Winter Palace, part of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
The film is very well filmed, with beautiful artwork in each room, but the thin storyline cannot hold the average viewer’s attention for long. Sokurov wrote the dialogue, such as it is, with Anatoli Nikiforov. It would seem that the viewer must be a fan of Russian history to appreciate the film. Another factor with the quality of the movie is the fact that it was filmed in one take; so, basically, “Russian Ark” is an 87 minute sequence shot (96 minutes counting the opening and closing credits).
The small cast included Sergey Dreyden as “the European,” Mariya Kuznetsova as Catherine the Great, Marksim Sergeyev as Peter the Great, and Svetlana Svirko as Princess Charlotte of Prussia. It may be best to say “nyet” to viewing “Russian Ark,” a Russian movie production that had modest success in art house cinemas around the world.
Russian Ark (2002)
cinema
My Review
“Russian Ark” is an unusual film about a “ghost” wandering through a Russian museum encountering various individuals, famous and obscure, from Russia’s history. The ghostly narrator is actually the movie’s director, Alexander Sokurov, and the museum is the Winter Palace, part of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
The film is very well filmed, with beautiful artwork in each room, but the thin storyline cannot hold the average viewer’s attention for long. Sokurov wrote the dialogue, such as it is, with Anatoli Nikiforov. It would seem that the viewer must be a fan of Russian history to appreciate the film. Another factor with the quality of the movie is the fact that it was filmed in one take; so, basically, “Russian Ark” is an 87 minute sequence shot (96 minutes counting the opening and closing credits).
The small cast included Sergey Dreyden as “the European,” Mariya Kuznetsova as Catherine the Great, Marksim Sergeyev as Peter the Great, and Svetlana Svirko as Princess Charlotte of Prussia. It may be best to say “nyet” to viewing “Russian Ark,” a Russian movie production that had modest success in art house cinemas around the world.