a perfect poem.

Incredible technical achievement, marred by an intolerably artsy approach to history lessons, passing the point where you know that you don't know what they're talking about - and you know that you don't want to know.

Not a great plot, but fantasticly put together.

Absurdly slow and terrible.

I was insanely impressed with the technical aspect of the film. I'm a sucker for long takes, so the fact that it was done in one with so many actors was absolutely mindblowing. Too bad the guide character was rather annoying and his musings added little to the film. More than half of his dialogue seemed irrelevant, and I would have preferred to get a more involving history lesson. Now, scenes just play out and we're only partly aware of what happened and why it might have been important. Shame.

# 920

Famous for one continual shot for whole movie with each 'scene' interesting enough without having much of a plot to speak of.

I didn't get it enough to really enjoy it. I just enjoyed the Russian and the continuous shot.

RUSSIAN ARK is, one hand, profoundly gimmicky--a tour of the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, encountering figures from the 1700s onwards as they dance, admire art, conduct diplomacy, etc.--all in a single 90-minute shot, done in one 90-minute take. The first half is dull and hollow, and the lack of character (a mysterious "European" and the invisible narrator aside) gets to one, but the second half blossoms and caps things off with a brilliant grand ball. Definitely worth it for the curious.

This film is ridiculously boring.

I dare you not to fall asleep

I did not like much of the story since it was jumping in time back and forth, but more deeper to the Hermetage in St. Petersburg we got, more impressed I get. The movie was technically a fine job. And during it you've got a free of charge run through of the museum.

It's a bit of a gimmick but a well thought out one. The setting and first person perspective work well with the single shot concept and it's really well executed with great visuals and an appropriate sense of mystery.

Considering the mind-blowing technical considerations of filming entirely in one shot in one day, I feel guilty that the film didn't connect with me more. Nevertheless, I still found it a fascinating look at Russian history, and I particularly liked the contrast between the two main characters: a phlegmatic, seemingly-disembodied narrator and a more bombastic non-Russian very reminiscent of Woland from The Master and Margarita.

Boring

Tum filmin (99 dk.!) kesintisiz tek bir plandan olusmasi gercekten inanilmaz. Belirgin bir kusur, bir aksaklik da goremedim ustelik. Belli ki uzuuun ve titiz bir on hazirlik yapilmis. Dalga dalga suzulen, havada yuzuyormus edasindaki kamera kullanimi da cok enteresan; nefis. Haliyle pek rahat izlenmiyor, yoruyor biraz ama cok etkileyici. Sinema adina muhim bir basari bence.

It's unbelievable that they managed to pull off a single-continuous-take feature length film with over 2000 actors, 3 orchestras, and through 33 rooms. It's lovely, too. I only wish that I had enough insight into Russian culture to more fully appreciate it.

Wonderfully shot, often intriguing, but feels gimmicky and ultimately I wouldn't watch it again.

The fact that it was all taken in one shot is impressive.