What is it about?
A critical movie review of Aleksandr Sokurov's "Russian Ark" (2002), a stunning visual spectacle—featuring a single, uninterrupted 90-minute shot, featuring paintings and lavish period costumes from the Hermitage Museum, mellifluous music by the Mariinskii Theater Orchestra, and a cast of nearly a thousand extras—that can easily blind audiences to the film's troubling political and ideological messages.
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Why is it important?
The critical and commercial success of "Russian Ark" (2002), Aleksandr Sokurov's most recent effort in historical docudrama, necessitates a thoughtful response from anyone seriously interested in Russian history, and most especially from American Slavic studies professionals, to whom this review was originally directed when it was published in "NewsNet: News of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies," 43, no. 4 (2003), 17-22.
Perspectives
Our goal in this self-avowedly polemical piece is to open up a critical discussion about Sokurov's film, which we see as a significant milestone in the ongoing attempt to define Russian national identity vis-à-vis the West. "Russian Ark" is undoubtedly a technological tour de force. But this stunning visual spectacle can easily blind audiences to the film's troubling political and ideological messages. including imperial nostalgia and Russian messianism.
Ernest A. Zitser
Duke University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: After the Deluge: <i>Russian Ark</i> and the Abuses of History, Historically Speaking, January 2006, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/hsp.2006.0053.
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