Russian Ark -- 2002

Once this was over, I just had to say "wow." The most compelling part of this production was that it was a 90-minute film presented in a single, continuous take. It is the only feature film in history to do this. It was also shot in one take, which is, again, the only film in history to do this.

During the film, it really felt like you were following along with this guy as he was walking through this Hermitage Museum in Russia. He had a guide, or more like a companion, for a time which gave him someone to talk to, but for the most part, we were experiencing this from one person's POV the whole time.

The basic plot is a filmmaker finds himself in this museum and he travels through time while walking through this museum experiencing everything that happened over a 300 year history. If that sounds boring to you...well, that's kind of the crappy part. It kind of is boring.

Technically, the film is impressive. To coordinate everyone involved in the production to do everything all at once is a feat worthy of a great regardless of the story line, but judging the story just leaves you flat. The camera occasionally "looks" at something for an extended period, and you just want to move on. The traveller guy acts oddly at many places, and at one point trades raspberries with someone else who had kicked him out of a room. It was really odd. I guess the film would mean a lot more to those who know the history, but to me, I just didn't get it.

It was amusing at several points because the actors inadvertently take you out of the film by glancing at the camera. Maybe they're looking at the "guy" who's walking around, but he goes unnoticed most of the time. The end was odd when he was clearly walking backwards through the crowd and they had parted in front of him; you could see them closing the gap behind him.

So from a filmmaking perspective, this is a landmark film. A single take is nothing short of impressive for a feature film, no matter what the story is. But the story is mostly a documentary. So you trade one for the other.