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Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg)

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Videos & Photos

  • Trailer 1

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Producer:

Andrey Deryabin, Jens Meuer, Karsten Stoter

Writer:

Anatoli Nikiforov, Aleksandr Sokurov

Release Date:

Dec 13, 2002

Runtime:

1hr 39m

Synopsis

A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.

Cast

  • Sergei Dreiden
  • Leonid Mozgovoy
  • David Giorgobiani
  • Mariya Kuznetsova
  • Aleksandr Chaban
  • Maksim Sergeyev
  • Anna Aleksakhina
  • Vladimir Baranov
  • Natalya Nikulenko
  • Svetlana Svirko

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.8
63.3K
31.4K
15.4K
RATINGS 475 FANS
3.8
  • Apr 18, 2015

    Well, there was one shot I really liked...

    1.9K Likes
    Underground Opera Singer
    Underground Opera Singer
    Nov 20, 2014

    my only complaint: a bit too much montage

    808 Likes
    Eli Hayes
    Eli Hayes
    Nov 15, 2014

    Filmed entirely in one-take, Russian Ark is a fantastical and sweeping look at Russian history aided with a sense of aching melancholy and lost memories, slowly floating away into the deadening atmosphere of crumbling civilization. I admire it more than I actually…

    690 Likes
    SilentDawn
    SilentDawn
  •
    Feb 15, 2018

    A tedious and fawning, single-take, artistic tour of an odious aristocracy by a pair of irritating time-travellers, one of whom has the most soporific voice in the history of cinema whilst the other spends most of his time huffing, puffing, blowing dubbed raspberries and…

    376 Likes
    Andrew Liverod
    Andrew Liverod
    Jan 26, 2016

    It made Eisenstein turn in his grave but this so-called stunt, shot in an unbroken take via digital steadicam, has considerably more to offer. A guided tour through one of the greatest museums in the world, the film is quite literally akin to travelling back in time, more…

    363 Likes
    CinemaShadow
    CinemaShadow

    Anti-Eisenstein masterpiece for the modern era which main concept is derived from "L'hypothèse du Tableau Volé" (1979), in which we step on the shoes of an unseen, confused wanderer whose past memoirs start slowly to be recovered through Platonic reminiscence, and a…

    282 Likes
    Edgar Cochran ✝️🍋
    Edgar Cochran ✝️🍋
  •
    Jul 15, 2020

    finishing this movie was like waking up from a dream

    253 Likes
    millie
    millie
    May 18, 2014

    The idea was an audacious one. A single take film encompassing three centuries of Russian artistic history sweeping along the halls of the Hermitage museum. An hour and forty minutes spent trapped in a dream world floating through the echoing halls of time. Technically the…

    220 Likes
    Steven Sheehan
    Steven Sheehan
    Feb 20, 2014

    In Soviet Russia, movie cuts y

    192 Likes
    Timcop
    Timcop
See All Reviews on Letterboxd.com

Queue Community Reviews

81%
Community 2,173
❤️ LOVE
17%
👍 LIKE
64%
😐 MEH
9%
👎 DISLIKE
10%
Top Reviews
  • Hank Leet
    Hank Leet loved
    Russian Ark

    An impressive look at Russian history, all shot entirely in one take.

    🔥 1 1Y
    JHB
    JHB is "meh" on
    Russian Ark

    The one shot thing is cool, but it’s a weird movie and I got bored and quit after 40 minutes.

    7M
    Claudia Lupton
    Claudia Lupton liked
    Russian Ark

    Read about this film after watching it

    1Y
  • sara sargac
    sara sargac loved
    Russian Ark

    magnificent. i have no words.

    9M
    Camera
    Camera loved
    Russian Ark

    WONDERFUL!!!

    9M
    Reyham
    Reyham liked
    Russian Ark

    gorgeous!

    9M
  • Luca Tosti
    Luca Tosti liked
    Russian Ark

    8/10

    2Y
View More Popular Russian Ark Reviews on Queue

Atom Users Reviews

No one has posted a user review yet.

Metacritic

87
metacritic
Based on 32 Critics
7.5

USER SCORE (49)

Generally favorable reviews based on 49 Reviews
75

A technical and visual tour-de-force.

View full review
Metacritic review by Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
100

Seems destined to go down in film history as a technical tour de force.

View full review
Metacritic review by Deborah Young
Deborah Young
Variety
83

It was only with the advent of digital technology that the notion of an entire film done in a single take became possible. Mike Figgis got there first with ''Time Code,'' and now the Russian director Alexander Sokurov has brought off a comparably startling feat with Russian Ark.

View full review
Metacritic review by Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
See All Critic Reviews on Metacritic.com

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002)?
The movie is 1hr 39min long.
What's Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002) about?
A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Who's the cast of Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002)?
  • Sergei Dreiden as The Stranger
  • Leonid Mozgovoy as The Spy
  • David Giorgobiani as Orbeli
  • Mariya Kuznetsova as Catherine the Great
  • Aleksandr Chaban as Boris Piotrovsky
  • Maksim Sergeyev as Peter the Great
  • Anna Aleksakhina as Alexandra Fyodorovna, Wife of Nicholas II
  • Vladimir Baranov as Nicholas II
  • Natalya Nikulenko as Catherine the Great
  • Svetlana Svirko as Alexandra Fedorovna, Wife of Nicholas I
Who's the director behind Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002)?
Aleksandr Sokurov directed Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002).
Who produced Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002)?
Andrey Deryabin, Jens Meuer and Karsten Stoter produced Russian Ark (Russki Kovcheg) (2002).