Russian Ark

dir. Alexander Sokurov (2002)

Captivating almost 2 hours in one movement through the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, Alexander Sokurov gives us a tour of Russian history, art and architecture of breathtaking dimensions. Some may find it amazing, some may find it bewildering, some may even find it boring (a friend of mine called it an ad for the Hermitage), but to me, it's one of those marvels of great filmmaking: a totally visionary work (and yes some have compared it to work by Miklós Jancsó) it stands on its own as a great epic cinematic meditation on art, history and society.
An hour and a half of continous motion, not unlike history itself, it is really all about glimpses into moments both public and private that have shaped the consciousness of Russia.
It isn't about history per se, though many of the details were no doubt very well researched, but the way the filmmaker imagines the world inside the walls of this great building between the glory years he has chosen to highlight. Moving through the many layers of the physical and human world that has made up the blood and bones of this great edifice, he offers us the company of (other) ghosts to gently guide us not only through the physical world but through the polemics of the place. A bit strange the filmmaker (behind the camera) and his companion, the French diplomat from the 18th century wander and argue, play cat and mouse, chase each other and marvel at the goings on.
I have chosen not to critique the choices that Sokurov makes in showing history and the building, as I really didn't feel that this was the central issue of the film, rather it is the grand motion, the movement of time, the lush sensual overwhelming dimension of the tour that is the theme that seduced me and makes me think of this as a rare gem of a film that take the powers of digital into a new level.