Russian Ark (2002)

A story viewed entirely through the eyes of an unblinking observer. He moves through the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum like some kind of apparition. It’s a single, unbroken Steadicam shot that lasts 90+ minutes from beginning to end; there are no cuts.
It’s a staggering achievement involving literally thousands of actors, but unless you’re deeply interested in Russian history then the majority of the political and cultural allusions will be lost. All I know of Russia is that it’s big and cold, so I was clueless ninety percent of the time.
It’s a beautiful canvas, no doubt of that, especially the walk with Catherine II on the snowy path, but beyond the technical aspects it’s just not very exciting. Russian scholars will likely feel very differently.

3½ audiences out of 5