Russian Ark

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 10 18 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 720917538228

Studio: Fox Lorber

Summary: Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov broke boundaries with his dreamlike vision of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russian Ark. It's the first feature-length narrative film shot in a single take (on digital video, using a specially designed disc instead of tape). Russian Ark is shot from the point-of-view of an unseen narrator, as he explores the museum and travels through Russian history. The audience sees through his eyes as he witnesses Peter the Great (Maksim Sergeyev) abusing one of his generals; Catherine the Great (Maria Kuznetsova) desperately searching for a bathroom; and, in the grand finale, the sumptuous Great Royal Ball of 1913. The narrator is eventually joined by a sarcastic and eccentric 19th century French Marquis (Sergey Dreiden), who travels with him throughout the huge grounds, encountering various historical figures and viewing the legendary artworks on display. While the narrator only interacts with the Marquis (he seems to be invisible to all the other inhabitants), the Marquis occasionally interacts with visitors and former residents of the museum. The film was obviously shot in one day, but the cast and crew rehearsed for months to time their movements precisely with the flow of the camera while capturing the complex narrative, with elaborate costumes from different periods, and several trips out to the exterior of the museum. Tilman B?ttner, the director of photography, was responsible for capturing it all in one single Steadicam shot. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Category: Avant-garde / Exp

Awards: Visions Award – Toronto International Film Festival Better Late Than Never Award – San Francisco Film Critics Circle Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival

Features: In One Breath - The Making of Russian Ark
Mon Paradis-Der Winterpalast documentary
Interviews
Commentary with producer Jens Meurer
Web links

Russian Ark

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 09/09/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 96 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) Russian

Subtitles: English,French

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening Credits [1:38]
2. Entering the Winter Palace [3:56]
3. The Marquis and Peter the Great [4:23]
4. The Auditorium of the Hermitage Theater [2:58]
5. Catherine the Great [2:20]
6. The Raphael Loggias [2:14]
7. The Small Italian Skylight Hall [5:03]
8. The Gallery of the History of Ancient Painting [1:30]
9. The Main Staircase of the New Hermitage [2:59]
10. The Van Dyck Room [1:48]
11. The Rubens Room [5:08]
12. The Tent Hall [6:25]
13. The Rembrandt Room [5:44]
14. The Council Staircase [2:19]
15. Casualties of War [2:42]
16. The Pavilion Hall [1:48]
17. The Hanging Garden of the Small Hermitage [3:12]
18. The St. George Hall [7:09]
19. The Armorial Hall [2:14]
20. The Memorial Hall of Peter the Great [4:06]
21. The Field Marshall's Hall [1:11]
22. The Portrait Gallery of the Romanov Dynasty [1:43]
23. The Small Dining-Rooom [1:16]
24. The Concert Hall [:49]
25. The Great (Nicholas) Hall [5:06]
26. Encore [8:05]
27. The Main Staircase of the Winter Palace [5:38]
28. End Credits [5:37]

Josh Ralske

Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark is an amazing accomplishment, and clearly made with passion, but while the film is sure to be hailed as a masterpiece by some, its narrative conceit isn't nearly as interesting as the technical feat of its creation. The result is a unique and intelligent film with sporadic moments of transcendent beauty that fails to create a strong emotional connection with its audience. It's essentially a 96-minute museum tour, with the added benefit of time travel and wax figures that briefly come to life. But wax figures are all they are, essentially. Sokurov, as though following a hasty guide, spends so little time with the historical figures he portrays that it often feels as though he's moving on just as you begin to figure out who and what you're watching. The Russian experience of World War II, for example, is portrayed with a brief stop in a foreboding, ghostly room filled with coffins. The filmmaker is known for his lugubrious pacing, but Russian Ark has the odd distinction of seeming both slow paced and rushed. It moves slowly and mournfully, but still only glances across the surface of the eras it portrays. It's a demanding film, encompassing a wealth of Russian history and art history between its first and final frames. Those who stay with it will be rewarded in the end by a gorgeously mounted ball, in which the camera gracefully slides among elaborately costumed dancers as the orchestra plays. It's a deeply felt irony that this transcendent moment of joy takes place on the eve of the Russian revolution, and the world of these briefly glimpsed characters is about to come crashing to an end. It's a shame that the film has few moments where form and content align so powerfully. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Valery Gergiev  Actor 
Yuri Orlov  Actor 
Artashes Aleksanyan  Actor 
Yevgeny Filatov  Actor 
Mariya Lavrova  Actor 
Alla Osipenko  Actor 
Svetlana Smirnova  Actor 
Igor Volkov  Actor 
Olga Kalmykova  Actor 
Sergei Nadporozhniy  Actor 
Viktor Mikhailov  Actor 
Alexandr Trofimov  Actor 
Anatoliy Dubanov  Actor 
Valery Kozinets  Actor 
Pavel Novikov  Actor 
Anya Solovyova  Actor 
Boris Smolkin  Actor 
Yelena Spiridonova  Actor 
Kirill Miller  Actor 
Dmitry Alexandrov  Actor 
Suren Vartanov  Actor 
Dmitry Zebrov  Actor 
Andrey Kovel  Actor 
Yelene Pavlikova  Actor 
Vladimir Chernyshov  Actor 
Anya Penny  Actor 
Alexander Bassov  Actor 
Maxim Doronin  Actor 
Alexandra Kulikova  Actor 
Maria Mescheryakova  Actor 
Yelena Simonova  Actor 
Vsevolod Tsurilo  Actor 
Boris Sokolov  Actor 
Anya Yekaterininskaya  Actor 
Mikhail Piotrovsky  Actor 
Vadim Guschin  Actor 
Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra  Actor 
Dmitry Bekoyev  Actor 
Michail Yegorov  Actor 
Yury Kalugin  Actor 
Konstantin Mukhin  Actor 
Dzhafar Rasulov  Actor 
Anya Antonelly  Actor 
Sergey Agafonov  Actor 
Svetlana Gnedina  Actor 
Sergey Yelikov  Actor 
Dmitry Lemeshev  Actor 
Rodion Prikhodko  Actor 
Tatyana Uchayeva  Actor 
Asya Shirshina  Actor 
Yulian Zhurin  Actor 
Artiom Strelnikov  Actor 
Vladimir Lisetsky  Actor 
Yury Ageikin  Actor 
Alexander Balonin  Actor 
Alexey Yemelyanov  Actor 
Victor Kraslavsky  Actor 
Igor Okrepilov  Actor 
Semyon Sytnik  Actor 
Ira Lebedeva  Actor 
Shamil Baltacheyev  Actor 
Helena Gorbunova  Actor 
Valentin Kuznetsov  Actor 
Margarita Lukina  Actor 
Andrey Rodimov  Actor 
Boris Khasanov  Actor 
Julia Shubareva  Actor 
Alexander Sokurov  Actor 
Valentina Kasyanova  Actor 
Olga Belyavskaya  Actor 
Nikolai Gravshin  Actor 
Yelena Rufanova  Actor 
Irina Tychinina  Actor 
Alexey Barabash  Actor 
Vladimir Sevastyanikhin  Actor 
Andrey Arshinnikov  Actor 
Roman Gabriya  Actor 
Yefim Yoffe  Actor 
Michail Legkov  Actor 
Ruslan Sadykov  Actor 
Ekaterina Shimelyeva  Actor 
Polina Uranova  Actor 
Natalya German-Tzarkova  Actor 
Julia Zhuravlyova  Actor 
Alisa Kondratyeva  Actor 
Alexey Oding  Actor 
Irina Ternovova  Actor 
Irina Tsyplukhina  Actor 
Sergei Romanyuk  Actor 
Anna Aleksakhina  Actor 
Nikolai Fedortsov  Actor 
Alexei Krymov  Actor 
Alla Oding  Actor 
Vladimir Solovyov  Actor 
Alexander Kulikov  Actor 
Oksana Merzlyakova  Actor 
Julia Rudina  Actor 
Alexander Tsybulsky  Actor 
Pavel Yanutsh  Actor 
Tamara Kurenkova  Actor 
Alexander Malnykin  Actor 
Alexander Andreyev  Actor 
Galina Burkina  Actor 
Dmitry Zelnitsky  Actor 
Vladimir Cknat  Actor 
Ekaterina Polyakova  Actor 
Darya Khudyakova  Actor 
Katya Ponomareva  Actor 
Oleg N. Yefremov  Actor 
Yegor Bakulin  Actor 
Irina Osnovina  Actor 
Vladimir Baranov  Actor 
Valery Filonov  Actor 
Alexander Dezhenov  Actor 
Sergei Losev  Actor 
Oleg Palmov  Actor 
Svetlana Svirko  Actor 
Alexander Klotko  Actor 
Artur Mkrtchan  Actor 
Vanda Starodubtseva  Actor 
Rasina Tsydulko  Actor 
Konstantin Anisimov  Actor 
Alexander Razbash  Actor 
Alexander Alexeyev  Actor 
Sergey Vasilyev  Actor 
Arseny Ivankovich  Actor 
Andrey Letnikov  Actor 
Sergey Remizov  Actor 
Anatoly Chernigin  Actor 
Pavel Titov  Actor 
Mark Gavrilov  Actor 
Yekaterina Dronova  Actor 
Mikhail Dorofeyev  Actor 
Alexandr Orlov  Actor 
Konstantin Demidov  Actor 
Tamara Kolesnikova  Actor 
Valery Smolyakov  Actor 
Lev Yeliseev  Actor 
Oksana Klotko  Actor 
Asya Razhouk  Actor 
Alexey Fedkin  Actor 
Asya Shibarova  Actor 
Nataliya Nikulenko  Actor 
Oleg Khmelnitsky  Actor 
Kirill Dateshidze  Actor 
State Hermitage Orchestra  Actor 
Vladimir Belovolsky  Actor 
Olga Yeliseyeva  Actor 
Michail Karavayev  Actor 
Yefim Malkov  Actor 
Michail Colovyov  Actor 
Masha Libova  Actor 
Alexander Anchukov  Actor 
Anna Gorodko  Actor 
Sergey Katyukha  Actor 
Vadim Lobanov  Actor 
Valentin Bukin  Actor 
Natalya Kadochnikova  Actor 
Sergei Muchenikov  Actor 
Anatoliy Shvedersky  Actor 
Valentina Yegorenkova  Actor 
Marianna Kostyushkina  Actor 
Kirill Petrov  Actor 
Svetlana Ulyanova  Actor 
Alexander Shaporov  Actor 
Kirill Ulyanov  Actor 
Ilya Shakunov  Actor 
Svetlana Gaitan  Actor 
Jury Khomutyansky  Actor 
Ismat Ashurov  Actor 
Ivan Guskov  Actor 
Svetlana Kushakova  Actor 
Konstantin Lukonin  Actor 
Julia Sergeyeva  Actor 
Andrey Schepochkin  Actor 
Sasha Shapovalova  Actor 
Yekaterina Gorokhovskaya  Actor 
Yury Zagrebnev  Actor 
Alexander Sokurov  Director 
Alexander Sokurov  Screenwriter 
Svetlana Proskurina  Screenwriter 
Jens Meurer  Producer 
Andrei Deriaban  Producer 
Karsten Stoter  Producer 
Anatoly Nikiforov  Screenwriter 
Boris Khaimsky  Screenwriter 
Sergei Yevtushenko  Composer (Music Score) 
Andrey Deryabin  Producer 
G. Persella  Composer (Music Score) 
Sergei Dreiden  Actor 
Maria Kuznetsova  Actor 
Leonid Mozgovoy  Actor 
David Giorgobiani  Actor 
Alexandr Chaban  Actor 
Maksim Sergeyev  Actor 

Country: Canada,Denmark,Germany,Finland,Russia