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Russian Ark

Original title: Russkiy kovcheg

“2000 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE”

2002 · 1 h 39 min
Directed by Alexander Sokurov

Cast

Sergei Dreiden Maria Kuznetsova Leonid Mozgovoi

Credits

Written by: Boris Khaimsky

Plot

A ghostly narrator, who does not know how he came to be there, and a French diplomat of the nineteenth century wander through the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, moving between different eras of Russian history, from Peter the Great to the last tsar's ball. Alexander Sokurov's 2002 film was shot in a single 96-minute take, with a cast of more than 800 actors.

Sinekatalog’s take

Alexander Sokurov's single-take tour of the Hermitage is a technical wonder, gliding through three centuries of Russian history. Dreamlike and ghostly, it is a hypnotic work of art and cinema.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.

Ratings

IMDb: 7.2 / 10 (23,243 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.

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