The Russian Ark ­ A Film by Alexander Sokurov

Visitors to the Cannes film festival will have the privilege of viewing in the competition a masterful work of cinematic art: Russian director Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark, a German-Russian film produced by Egoli Tossell Film in Berlin together with Hermitage Bridge Studio, one that will simply take your breath away. Indeed, and truly, there has never been a »moving picture« like this one before: a 90-minute, nonstop journey on a Russian »ark« through the Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on the 23rd of December 2001 that also serves as a guide through 300 years of Russian history.
       The technical side of this extraordinary film, although anticipated by other directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Max Ophüls, begs description and numbs the imagination. But just try to fathom what it would take to cover 1500 metres in 33 rooms of the Hermitage and Palace that’s literally packed with thousands of actors and extras, decorated and lighted in the best tradition of the costume epic, and spotlight historical dramas and ballroom dancing and overheard conversations ­ all in a single shot. Not since the Lumière Brothers filmed The Arrival of a Train over a century ago has a one-shot film of this calibre and magnitude been attempted on this scale in motion picture history ­ and it’s only proper that the world premiere of The Russian Ark ­ in reference to the Hermitage as the »ark of the Russian soul« ­ should take place in the hallowed environs of the Salle Lumière of the Cannes festival.
       Eight years in the making, from concept to realization, the breakthrough came when the brand new 25p HD Steadicam camera allows digital filmmaking to find aesthetic acceptance. The occasion will be celebrated at Cannes with back-to-back cinematic and digital projection ­ another first in the history of the festival. As for the story, we follow a French diplomat from the 18th century, the Marquis de Custine (1790-1857), as he embarks on a journey through time to discuss art and history with a Russian acquaintance ­ Sokurov himself off-camera ­ and encounters the royalty and gentry from Peter the Great to Catherine the Great to Tsar Nicholas II. Yes, a masterpiece!

­ Editors