High art, low comedy, hard labor and royal prerogative are here thrown together in an elegant unity, a breathtaking demonstration of Russian cinematic -- hence artistic -- brilliance.
Russian Ark(Русский ковчег)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Russia, Germany, Japan · 2002
1h 39m
Director Aleksandr Sokurov
Starring Sergei Dreiden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Maksim Sergeev
Genre Drama, Fantasy, History, Mystery
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
The ghost of a 19th century French aristocrat wanders through the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum. He drifts through a seemingly endless maze of hallways, ballrooms, and theaters— in each one, the nobleman encounters real and fictional icons from many periods of St. Petersburg’s 300-year history.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Seems destined to go down in film history as a technical tour de force.
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Dramatically, this is something of a waking dream.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
A technical and visual tour-de-force.
The problem with these feats is that they threaten to overwhelm the film's content, both as complex historical commentary and as aesthetic and theoretical gesture.
Even in its most tedious scenes, Russian Ark is mesmerizing.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
It was only with the advent of digital technology that the notion of an entire film done in a single take became possible. Mike Figgis got there first with ''Time Code,'' and now the Russian director Alexander Sokurov has brought off a comparably startling feat with Russian Ark.
A coda that will have the movie's audience gasping in exhilarated exhaustion, whispering astonished gratitude to Sokurov for having created vigorous art out of 21st century video technique and asking themselves, "What's the Russian word for Wow!?"
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The film is a glorious experience to witness, not least because, knowing the technique and understanding how much depends on every moment, we almost hold our breath.
The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann
Substantively there is no content. Everything we see or hear engages us only as part of a directorial tour de force. That force is exceptional, but since there is not much more to the picture, it leaves us hungry.
Users who liked this film also liked
Ashes and Diamonds
(Popiół i diament)
A resistance fighter in WWII Poland questions his commitment to the cause.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Poland • 1958
- Director Andrzej Wajda
- Cast Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżynski, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela, Jan Ciecierski
- Genre Drama, Romance, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Charlotte Gray
The story of an ordinary woman in an extraordinary time.
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Australia, Germany • 2001
- Director Gillian Armstrong
- Cast Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones, Anton Lesser, James Fleet
- Genre Drama, History, Romance, War
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel
Crime Story
(重案組)
The world's toughest city needs more than an army to stop the mob… They need one man!
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong • 1993
- Director Kirk Wong
- Cast Jackie Chan, Kent Cheng, Law Kar-Ying, Susanna Au-Yeung Pui-San, Christine Ng, Poon Ling-Ling
- Genre Action, Crime
- Available on fuboTV, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Shout! Factory TV, Plex, Plex Channel
In the Loop
A British bureaucrat’s bumbling comments on television lead to a series of political maneuverings in the days leading up to a potential war.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2009
- Director Armando Iannucci
- Cast Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky
- Genre Comedy
- Available on AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, The Roku Channel
On the Run
(Cavale)
A proletarian revolutionary must rally the fight for his cause.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2003
- Director Lucas Belvaux
- Cast Lucas Belvaux, Catherine Frot, Dominique Blanc, Ornella Muti, Gilbert Melki, François Morel
- Genre Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Horse Thief
(盗马贼)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- China • 1986
- Director Tian Zhuangzhuang
- Cast Rigzin Tseshang, Jiji Dan, Jamco Jayang, Daiba, Drashi, Gaoba
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Zero for Conduct
(Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1933
- Director Jean Vigo
- Cast Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Du Verron, Delphin, Léon Larive, Madame Émile
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate
(생활의 발견)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2002
- Director Hong Sang-soo
- Cast Kim Sang-kyung, Chu Sang-mi, Ye Ji-won, Kim Hak-sun, Ahn Kil-kang, Kim Choo-wol
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Calamari Union
Unhappy in their Helsinki district, seventeen men embark on an epic journey to a nearby district where they imagine life is better.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Finland • 1985
- Director Aki Kaurismäki
- Cast Sakari Kuosmanen, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Timo Eränkö, Kari Heiskanen, Asmo Hurula, Sakke Järvenpää
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Faust: Love of the Damned
Evil rises from the depths of hell.
- ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2000
- Director Brian Yuzna
- Cast Mark Frost, Isabel Brook, Jennifer Rope, Jeffrey Combs, Mònica Van Campen, Leslie Charles
- Genre Horror, Fantasy, Action
- Available on Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Faust
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia • 2011
- Director Aleksandr Sokurov
- Cast Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinsky, Isolda Dychauk, Georg Friedrich, Hanna Schygulla, Florian Brückner
- Genre Fantasy, Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Kanopy
Beloved
(Les bien-aimés)
A mother and a daughter navigate their respective romances together.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United Kingdom, Czech Republic • 2011
- Director Christophe Honoré
- Cast Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Ludivine Sagnier, Louis Garrel, Miloš Forman, Paul Schneider
- Genre Drama, Music, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Quickie Express
DIMANA ADA KEMALUAN DISITU ADA JALAN
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Indonesia • 2007
- Director Dimas Djayadiningrat
- Cast Tora Sudiro, Lukman Sardi, Aming Sugandhi, Tino Saroengallo, Ira Maya Sopha
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Serenade
(小夜曲)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1985
- Director Koji Yamamura
- Cast Kenji Tsuchiya, Hideki Sugimoto, Kitayama Riko, Ueno Tosei
- Genre Animation
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Space Between Us
One day, when all hope seems lost, the ‘Adam’ is found: the savior of mankind.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Netherlands • 2015
- Director Marc S. Nollkaemper
- Cast Elsa May Averill, Kiefer Zwart, Adrian Brine, Phi Nguyen, Simon Van Den Broek, Leon van Waas
- Genre Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Video
Bikeman
(ไบค์แมน ศักรินทร์ ตูดหมึก)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Thailand • 2018
- Director Prueksa Amaruji
- Cast Pachara Chirathivat, Sananthachat Thanapatpisal, Pramote Pathan, Akom Preedakul, Paitoon Pumrat, Pornpan Chunhachai
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Amazon Video
Even if the historical and literary references and allusions go by too quickly or are too obscure to appreciate in full, at the very least I can appreciate Russian Ark for the technological achievements. Every so often a film "shot-in-one-take" comes around and gets attention, but really seeing it for yourself and experiencing the unique way the film unfolds never fails to impress.