Russian Ark

So when I was told that this was just one long continuous shot, I can't say that this is exactly what I was expecting. I mean sure the director used shadows and interruptions of the image we were seeing to provide subtle segues into the next shots, but none the less this really was one complete long shot. I picked up on some interesting details throughout this film however. We entered the building at night, but then we got later shots out of windows it seemed as though it were not only different times of the day, but different times of the year. That really gave the whole film this strange sense that were just floating through space and time. This made it slightly confusing to watch. At times I wasn't sure if were seeing later time periods, or elaborate reenactments. Also, I wasn't sure at times if this was supposed to be an art film, or a film about art. I mean sure it used a lot of interesting shots, and the fact we continued to be ushered along by either guards or the European made it seem as though we had an ultimate goal; which aided in the story that we are some dying persons flash back. Despite all of this however the film still a feeling that it was some kind of documentary.

This was an extremely hard film to watch. I kept catching myself looking at the counter on the DVD player only to find that we had been watching this for 10min or less since the last time i looked. I think the continuous shot did not help with this feeling of longevity. All in all it was interesting. I don't think I will ever be able to walk that palace, and to have a film do it for me, though in a very strange way, was a nice way to let me experience everything.