Russian Ark

[jackie3]

Enjoy the sensation, and the beauty, of it.  Just "go with the flow" as they say.

I agree. It's a film to be savored like wine and requires several watchings. And I've found that it's something that can only be appreciated by a very few. I remember I first saw it (in a small indie film theatre) as a requirement in a film class I took (had never heard of it before that) and was enthralled since even without speaking Russian I knew the history.
Many of my fellow students thought didn't get and came to class the next week complaining to our professor on how boring it was. I was one of a literal handful who actually confessed to enjoying it. To each his own I guess but for any lover of Russian or even European history this film is a real tour-de-force. After seeing it I now want to go to Hermitage myself!

[Annie]

A dream is fine with me:) I hope I can find it in a culturally deprived town.

Every book I've ever read said Alix's hair was red to reddish gold, never brown. It looks brown in the black adn white pics. The got a redheaded actress to play her in Nicholas and Alexandra, they should have gotten one for this too. But i'm sure I will like it. How does it end?

[rskkiya]

Like any dream   Annie!

R

[rskkiya]

It may be best to just accept the dream logic of it...
 or it might mean that as the man in black (Custine)  was a ghost, he was inconsiquential...like a mist or a chimera...
  or it might mean nothing.
R.

[rskkiya]

Perhaps it was a particularly "Russian" thing to do....
Would any Russians here care to comment?
R.  

[olga]

This concerns the scene where the Court recieves the Persian envoy. When the grandson of the Shah is speaking, Alexandra Fyodorovna says something, quite loudly, to Nikolai Pavlovich. Was this not considered rude?

[Rhon]

Has anyone seen this? From what I read about it on Amazon, it's a film shot in one continuous take of an hour and a half in The Hermitage. It apparently goes through numerous rooms of the museum and is kind of a "time travel" thing where we see different people and periods in Russian history, including Nicholas and Alexandra. I just wondered if anyone was familiar with it.

Rhon

[Nicholaievna]

Never heard of it but it seems interesting

[Laura Mabee]

I saw it a few times, it is really good. But it's not just on the last IF. It goes through the entire history of who lived in the Hermitage. There is like a 3 second clip of the last IF, and that's it.
I included a picture of the last IF that you see in the film, what you see in the picture is pretty much all you see of them. Excluding the little tidbits you see of the GD's running through the hallway.



They did Niky really well in this picture!

[Nicholaievna]

looks like a grand duchess is missing

[Laura Mabee]

looks like a grand duchess is missing

Maybe she's the one at the camera  

[Nicholaievna]

that would make sense

[Rhon]

I ordered the DVD from Amazon...it was under $10. I'm looking forward to seeing the interiors of The Hermitage and am curious about the way it was filmed in one continuous shot. Thanks for posting the picture from the film...very interesting. Who are some of the other people shown in the film?

Rhon

[helenazar]

Hi Rhon, I saw it too. I think it's definitely worth seeing, even just for the Hermitage interiors. It's a pretty "artsy" film and it may get a little confusing as to what is going on sometimes, so you may have to watch it a couple of times to really appreciate what they are trying to convey. In the end you will find out why the title...  

Some other characters that appear in the film, if I remember correctly, are Catherine the Great and Peter the Great...

I hope you enjoy your copy from Amazon  

Helen

[felix]

Helen's  right ,  I  liked  it, if only for the building , but fun.