Russian Ark any good?

[BiscLimpkit]

Russian Ark @imdb (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0318034/)

I ask because I carelessly missed it in the cinema. Now I have to risk buying it if I want to see it. It's a single take movie (as I'm sure everyone knows already) but that's all I know about it...

Worth buying you reckon? I believe it's on R1 dvd.

[Noel M]

I thought it was an incredible film - but it certainly wouldn't be for everyone. Michael Brooke reviewed it on DVD Times here (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=223).

[Michael Brooke]

I (obviously) agree with Noel - but in my review I raised several caveats: I saw it at absolutely the right time in my life, when I'd been going through a fairly hefty immersion in Russian history, art and culture and indeed had only a few months earlier spent a honeymoon in St Petersburg, so I had a fairly major advantage in terms of dealing with a film that doesn't exactly go out of its way to be accessible.

Basically, if you know nothing about Russian history (especially 18th and 19th century Russian history: there are very few allusions to the Soviet era), you're more likely to be baffled and bored than anything else - director Alexander Sokurov's target audience is clearly highly educated Russians, preferably of the St Petersburg variety, and there's little in the way of explanatory footnotes, though hopefully this might be remedied by the DVD (doesn't one version come with a commentary?).

Reading Orlando Figes' <I>Natasha's Dance</I> (just out in paperback) might well be a good way of preparing yourself, though - he covers pretty much all the historical and cultural ground that you'd need in a single volume.

[BiscLimpkit]

Cheers guys, just had a quick skim of the review. Will read more tomorrow.

Quick question, how many dvds of this movie are there?

Might just opt for the version you review Michael.

Many thanks!

[Michael Brooke]

The version I reviewed was the 35mm theatrical version, which might be a bit tricky (and expensive) to get hold of for home viewing!

I'm waiting for confirmation of the full R2 Artificial Eye specs - but at the moment the R1 version looks like the one to go for.

[Joe91]

There are actually two R1 releases:

(US) Wellspring Masterworks Edition
(Can) Seville Signature Selection

They seen to have the same features, but I don't know if they use the same transfer.

[bradavon]

What's the census, is this any good? Will I be completely confused unless I read up on Russian history first?

Is it a good film in it's own right after you get past the initial cleverness?

I've been meaning to check it out but like many arthouse films the DVDs are still over £10. The R1 and R4 DVDs (UK R2 is DD2.0 only) in particular are still over £10 today, even though the DVDs have been out for years.

Should I pick it up?

Thanks

[James45]

I've got it queued up with Lovefilm mainly to see how it's possible to make a film in one take with a 2,000 strong cast!

[Alan b]

Moving to World Cinema & DVD Forum

[Jimmyboy]

What's the census, is this any good? Will I be completely confused unless I read up on Russian history first?

Is it a good film in it's own right after you get past the initial cleverness?

I've been meaning to check it out but like many arthouse films the DVDs are still over £10. The R1 and R4 DVDs (UK R2 is DD2.0 only) in particular are still over £10 today, even though the DVDs have been out for years.

Should I pick it up?

Thanks
Absolutely.

I saw it a while back expecting it to be one of those films I admire rather than like but instead came away thinking it was one of the best films (if not THE best) of that year. It does help to have a general knowledge of Russia's greatest historical figures - Aleksandr Pushkin, Peter the Great, Catherine II, etc, but it shouldn't spoil the experience too much if you don't although certain parts may be confusing in places. Russian Ark does expect you to already know the story it's telling so there's no narration explaining the significance of each character or any historical brush up for Western audiences.

I've got the R1 dvd btw and have no complaints.

[bradavon]

Thanks Jimmy. I wish the price would drop a wee bit.