Russian Ark

How to watch this movie This is a unique production. Don't just pop it in the DVD player watch for three minutes, say "yuk" and eject it. This movie grows on you if you have any interest in architecture, art, Russian history or film production. Russian Ark is an artistic representation of the history of Russian culture as captured and preserved by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The art and culture of the Russian peoples has been preserved in the palace of the Czars known as the "Hermitage" through its history of war, fire, and revolution. In this movie the Hermitage represents an Ark in which Russian culture survives the turmoil that threatens the Russian people. The plot is very minimal. The camera represents a ghost who finds himself jumping in and out of various time periods following another semi-real character who is a French Marquis who has a haughty arrogant view of Russian culture as they wander through the museum/palace. Filmed entirely in the museum two days before Christmas on the only day of the year that the museum could be made available for the 2000 actors & extras and hundreds of technicians to literally re-stage 33 rooms of the historic palace for filming a 90 minute movie in one continuous uninterrupted shot. The camera glides through the palace encountering the accurately costumed actors in short scenes of Russian history and culture in the palace of the Czars, from Peter the Great in 1700, to Nicolas II in 1913. The movie ends with a recreation of the last grand ball held in the ballroom that had not hosted such an event since Czar Nicolas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution. This production is in Russian with English subtitles. However, the story is a little hard to follow without some idea what the movie is trying to say, and the casual viewer will get more from the movie if the film is first viewed with the producer's commentary enabled. The commentary is in spoken English and does explain the important points of the meager plot as well as point out the production difficulties of this totally unique work of art. Also check out "the making of" section of this DVD for more insight into the extraordinary efforts required to make this production possible. Viewing the movie with subtitles enabled you can engage yourself in the dichotomy of the European vs Russian mindset of the two main characters. Finally with subtitles disabled or sound turned off, let yourself relax and just watch the wonders of the architecture and priceless art of one of the most famous museums in the world as you've never seen them before.You will never see another movie like this again.

Russian Ark isn't for everybody. Prepare yourself for a thoroughly out-of-mainstream experience. This is a film that was shot in one take. Yes. One take. The actors had to be strategically placed through the museum so that they would enter their part with the flow of the cameraman who is attached by an umbilical to a batter and to a sound and light man. The film location is the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg and the film follows the history of Russia from Peter the Great, through Catherine the Great, and on to Nicholas the II. Visually entrancing, especially the final ball scene where we see the participants of Russia's upperclass leave the ballroom not knowing the tragedies to follow. It's almost like watching lambs leading themselves to the destruction of life as they knew it. The intractability of the upper classes - - not heeding the overwhelming gap between their ostentatious life style to that of the peasant classes - - becomes their undoing, and there's nothing we can do as an audience but helplessly watch them descend the grand staircase into their destruction. Before launching into the movie, I recommend that the viewer watch the interview with the director and the story of how the film was made. It will make more sense that way. Having said that, for anyone not familar with the nuansces of Russian culture, language, and history, the viewer may question their decision to suffer through the 90 plus minutes. For those students of Russia and those who have experienced life in Russian it will impart the sense of loss and tragedy of a Russia lost to time and memory. Lastly, the Hermitage is a beautiful testament for Russia's love of art and the director does it justice to be sure. George Andreev

I am actually rating this film from a standpoint of a Russian soul that loves Russian history and is proud of my heritage.So much has been torn apart as far as Russian history is concerned within the past 15 years, and 70 years before that, I really did not know what to expect when I sat down in the theater. Will this be popularist Hollywood type dancing through the Winter Palace with scenes of epique, Gladiator-type battles unfolding on the walls of the Palace? That is what I kind of expected - why would a movie any different from that make it to US theaters?Well, that is not what I saw. I saw a nostalgic, often out of place in time, view at what I learned for so many years. I saw director's cry for times long gone, I saw the emotion, love and understanding, of little, seemingly insignificant pictures of Russian history, flash before my eyes.I think reviewers who rated this movie as boring or without point, grossly misunderstood the idea and the goal. Throughout the movie, you see a series of little re-enactments that often ended in a pose that is similar/same to the paintings located in the Hermitage. That is where the paintings come alive. Like the whole scene with Nicolas II's family gathered around the dinner table and as the camera pans out, everyone turns and looks into the camera. I vividly remember the painting, and only then did it hit me - the meaning, the tragedy, the emotion. I understood the painting!Same thing can be said for many other scenes like that. But the most powerful scene of the movie is at the very end, everyone is leaving the ballroom, the awkwardly translated phrase "This is the flower of young Russia" and finally, the stranger saying I'm staying...I'm staying with 5 stars here ...

Great anniversary Blu-ray.

Aquí vamos de nuevo. Para empezar, cuando hice la compra decía que era una edición de aniversario, lo cual no es cierto (pueden checarlo en la página oficial de Amazon). Si es la misma compañía (kino lorber), pero esta muy austera, solo cuenta con un documental sobre la filmación, pero nada más. Otra cosa, en las especificaciones técnicas dice que la pantalla es anamorfica o widescreen y, tampoco es cierto, la imagen es muy pobre y realmente mala, mi dvd viejito de esta pelicula, tiene mejor imagen y también viene con formato widescreen.No estoy calificando la película que en si es una obra maestra, sino esta edición.

il contenuto del dvd è sorprendente. onirico, ironico, estetico, tecnicamente impeccabile, molto russo e carezzevolmente europeo. tripudio di costumi e allestimenti scenici

An astonishing film by any measure. How they managed to do it is just remarkable. Once you watch it for the first time, it pays to watch the added documentary then watch it a second time for further enrichment. Russian cinema at its best.

Exquisite film, an absolute classic and not to be missed. A cast of hundreds conjures up Russia's artistic and political history in a breathtaking visual and audial wash, all done in a single, sublime take. The production was steered by Russia's best, and includes German and Japanese cinematographic prowess. The subtitling looks excellent in all languages offered. At the very end of the credits, you'll notice the name of Hollywood's most important capturer of artistic zeitgeist. If you have children and want them to grow up cosmopolitan and truly literate, plunk them down in front of this one. Sit with them and explain the occasional remark. Watch their jaws drop. Give them something with so much meaning that they'll never exhaust it. They'll treasure it all their lives.The disc itself was delivered in perfect shape, as quickly as any delivery method will allow, and I will definitely buy from the vendor on a regular basis.

Ich muß sagen, daß ich leider einen Großteil der Hauptpersonen, die dreihundert Jahre russischer Geschichte darstellen, nicht erkennen konnte. Es gibt keine Handlung und der Film ist für mich eigentlich kein Spielfilm, sondern ein Dokumentarfilm, aber ich weiß, daß er in ganz wenigen Stunden gedreht werden mußte - weil das Schloß bzw. das Museum zu diesem Zweck nur eineinhalb Tage zur Verfügung gestellt wurde - und zwar in einer einzigen Kamerafahrt ohne einen einzigen Schnitt. Man kann sich also gut vorstellen, wie riesig die Vorbereitungsarbeit war, mit ganz neuen Kostümen und mit etwa zweitausend Schauspielern. Und überhaupt merkt man auf Anhieb, mit wieviel Liebe und Enthusiasmus der Film gedreht wurde.Ich habe jedes Bild genossen, und habe mit viel Freude die dreiunddreißig gezeigten Säle des Eremitage mit vielen Bildern und Skulpturen bewundert.Die letzte Szene, die des Balls, ist eine Wucht - die wunderschöne Musik hat mich auch sehr beeindruckt.Ich empfehle den Film jedem Kulturliebhaber.