Russian Ark: The Masterworks Edition | Anna Aleksakhina, Konstantin Anisimov

Russian Ark: The Masterworks Edition | Anna Aleksakhina, Konstantin Anisimov | A Glimpse of Russian Art, Culture and History

DVDs:

Russian Ark: The M...

	Russian Ark: The Masterworks Edition Anna Aleksakhina, Konstantin Anisimov Fox Lorber, 2003 average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not for Everybody

I love this movie but I do realize it's not for everybody. In a single long take we travel trough Russian history in the great Russian Art museum, The Hermitage. The Hermitage is incredible, the art is great and the sense of Russian History as seen through art throughout the ages is unique. This is more documentary than a movie with a plot so it's not really for everybody. If you love History and Art and want to see a unique presentation of the subject matter than this movie is for you. The extras on the DVD are pretty interesting as well since the director takes you behind the scenes showing all the problems involved with doing a single 90 minute take through the huge cavernous halls of the Hermitage.

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A Glimpse of Russian Art, Culture and History

This awe-inspiring film by Alexander Sokurov was filmed at the Museum of the Hermitage, former palace of the Tsars in St Petersburg, Russia. It was done in one take which is a first of its kind. The film is most unusual and creative in that it is narrated by a French Marquis who occasionally is a voyeur to Russian history as it unfolds while strolling through the Hermitage. History unfolds before his eyes and the Marquis occasionally interacts with various people of different eras whom he is viewing. This is a creative and magnificent production which contrasts the European viewpoint of Russian art, culture and history against Russia's own point of view of the same ...

The film begins in a haunting, dream-like manner when the French Marquis discovers himself in 18th Century Russia ... watching handsome young officers and their beautiful female partners enter the palace during the time of Peter the Great. The French Marquis is describing what he sees and interprets it for the film viewer, while another disembodied spirit, who has only a voice, occasionaly expresses the Russian point of view about the same scene. This film takes the viewer through 300 years of Russian history and at least four galleries of the Hermitage, as well as the ballroom and other private areas. The French Marquis opens private doors and enters into 18th century Russian aristocratic life. At one point, he recognizes the poet Pushkin during an encounter. The French Marquis also describes and interprets artwork by great Masters displayed on the walls, for instance, a famous painting by Van Dyke and a very exquisite marble statue of three naked muses by the sculptor Canova. The Marquis comments on Russian tastes in art and also about Russian music which he hears coming from a conservatory ...

Several of my favorite scenes are when Catherine the Great comes to life before our eyes. Catherine the Great was the founder of the museum. Initially, she bought over 200 paintings which now has grown to a collection of over 2.7 million items. There are five palaces which make up the complex. Her walk outside into the winter snow on the grounds of the Hermitage seems haunting, prophetic and beautiful beyond description. Another authentic looking scene is when a Persian envoy arrives before the throne of the Tsar, with the intention of creating a pact of peace after a Russian diplomat had been murdered in Tehran. The magnificence, grandeur and solemnity of the occasion is indescribable. One of the most impressive scenes was the ballroom scene, when handsome Russian officers and elegantly dressed ladies danced a mazurka to a live orchestra. The costumes were period pieces created just for this film, based on authentic clothes worn by aristocrats of that era. There was a great scene were the Marquis entered the dining room before the guests arrived for dinner. He admired the hand-painted blue and gold porcelain dinner ware (the real thing which was lent by the museum for use in the film). Another haunting and well done scene is when the Marquis enters a dusty room where he is admonished by "the voice" to not go. It houses remnants of the past related to World War II ... of which the Marquis would have no knowledge. He was told Germany and Russia went to war and the Russians paid a high price as over one million died. The film ends on a positive note, when the ballroom guests file out, walking down long corridors, and down marble staircases, wearing their magnificent finery, eventually to be escorted to their waiting horse-drawn carriages. The final scene shows an icey ocean which seems to represent the great Unknown ... the void, possibly Infinity.

This DVD has a great section, called "Film in One Breath", which chronicles how the film was made. There are comments by Alexander Sokurov where he explains his goals and intentions during the filming process. The camerman, Tilman Bütner, provides insights into the technical difficulties of making a film in one single take. The film was very expensive to make, it had a cast of over 850, most of whom wore 18th Century costumes made especially for this occasion. A special camera called "steadycam" was made in Canada specifically for creating this film. It was also the first of its kind. There were numerous organizational and lighting problems to overcome to create the right scene, with the right effects. Great challenges were arose related to set design, lighting and the proper use of architecture which obviously could not be changed.

Alexander Sokurov was also the director of "Mother and Son" another cinematic masterpiece with highly original filming techniques which made the film look like a French impressionistic painting that came to life. It told a very touching and sensitive story. Truly it depicts the Russian soul during its finest moment. Both films "Russian Ark" and "Mother and Son" are highly recommended. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

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Worth the effort

The first ten minutes of the film are so dark that you wonder if something has gone wrong with your DVD player. Many of the incidents and comments depend on information that most viewers cannot be expected to know, so if you watch this at home, you have to keep Wikipedia up on your PC, so you can check.

If you know nothing about what is going on, parts of it can seem very silly. For instance, the rather strange tour guide walks into a room full of marble nudes by the noted sculptor Antonio Canova and starts crying out "Mama! Mama!" You may be tempted to start giggling, until you learn that the guide's mother was Canova's mistress. The guide is supposed to be the ghost of the Marquis de Custine, who lived from around 1790 to 1860 and traveled to Russia and wrote a book that expressed some appreciation of Russian life mixed with disdain, since he thought them inferior to Europeans.

Similarly, in one of the final scenes, you may not understand why the crowd of ballgoers is applauding the orchestra so feverishly, almost as if this were their last chance to hear them, until you understand that this scene depicts what actually was the last ball given by the Czar, in 1913.

Some people may find the whole thing simply boring, but it certainly grew on me, and I found it effective. Certain scenes have a quiet power, including an encounter with a blind woman who nevertheless is able to describe the paintings in detail, or a brief glimpse of Nicholas II and his family about to share a meal together, or a somber scene in which the present Director of the Hermitage converses, in a dark room, with the ghosts of his own father, his predecessor as Director, and the man before him, who was Director during the days of Stalin. The Stalinist-era Director wants to know if the Director's phone is still tapped by the government.

Some of this reminded me of Bergman, some of Robert Altman, and the ballroom scene of the end of Lucchino Visconti's "The Leopard."

The reviews here pretty well describe the spectrum of possible reactions to this film. If you are like some, you may hate it and feel like jumping out the window before it is over; if you are like others, you may want to appreciate it but still find it overblown and pretentious. For my money, the real-time, unbroken presentation, the winter afternoon with its fading light, the telltale signs of the Marquis being back from the dead (e.g., he confesses to having forgotten the taste of food), the somber lighting of most of the galleries and works of art, and the impending sense of time running out which hung over the whole film (and was a real, and urgent issue in its single-shot production mode) give the film a power and poignancy that make it worth watching.

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Visually dazzling, mentally confusing

"So who do you think the European guy was supposed to be?" is what you may be asking yourself after seeing this impressive movie. For the record, I think he either represents Europe's somewhat condescending view of Russia, or he represents Russia's own feelings of inadequecy compared to the rest of Europe. Or maybe neither. Or both. It's that kind of film.

You already know what this movie is. One continuous, non-stop shot going through the Hermitage in St Petersburg. Obstensibly it explores three hundred or so years of Russian history. What it really does is showcase Russian art and culture.

The movie's visuals are impressive, and the art of course, including the costumes, is amazing. Less impressive is the diagloge, which is repetitive and at times confusing. I'd like to think if I understood Russian, the dialogue would make more sense. Sadly, I think I'd need to understand Gibberish.

Still, despite that minor issue (which keeps the film from getting five stars), I enjoyed this movie. Any fan of art, culture, Russian history or just interesting cinematic technique is likely to feel the same.

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Good but could have been better

The movie was very good in that it was shot as a single take. The actual places that they showed in the movie would not have been my choice. I was more interested in things like the private apartments that the imperial family would have used. Alexander II was brought back to the Winter Palace (a part of the Hermitage) and died there. I also thought that it lasted longer than 90 minutes. You need to know a little history or you will be confused. It's well worth it for the scenery and the authentic costumes that were worn, down to the servants liveries.

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