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Russian Ark

Russkiy kovcheg (AKA Russian Ark)

2002

Aleksandr Sokúrov

Sergei Dreiden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Edisher Giorgobiani ...

7.1

4,718

Drama Russian master Alexander Sokurov has tapped into the very flow of history itself for this flabbergasting film. Thanks to the miracles of digital video, Sokurov (and cinematographer Tilman Buttner) uses a single, unbroken, 90-minute shot to wind his way through the Hermitage in St. Petersburg--the repository of Russian art and the former home to royalty. Gliding through time, we glimpse Catherine II, modern-day museumgoers, and the ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The film is a glorious experience to witness (...) This is one of the best-sustained ideas I have ever seen on the screen (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Stephen Holden The New York Times	"A magnificent conjuring act"	POS
United States	Richard Corliss Time	"What's the Russian word for Wow!?"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"This is sort of an oddity - and sort of a miracle. It's a strategic and logistical achievement whose effect, over an hour and a half, builds into something weirdly moving and certainly unique (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Deborah Young Variety	"East German steadicam operator Tilman Buttner (...) earns a place in the Cinematographers’ Hall of Fame for his remarkable physical effort and stunning aesthetic results."	POS
United Kingdom	Jamie Russell BBC	"[The finale] is a beautiful and haunting sequence that turns the stupefying into the spectacular (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"Sokurov's commanding sense of mood and pace establishes 'Russian Ark' as a philosophical elegy"	POS
United Kingdom	Empire	"'Russian Ark' won't appeal to everyone, but anyone with an eye for beauty, a yearning for the past or a passion for pure cinema is going to be spellbound."	POS

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