Sukurov’s camera man, Buttner, takes you on a historical journey through 33 hermitage rooms.
The idea: to preserve Russian culture and show it all in one continuous shot of biblical proportions, on the sea.The proposal is almost as absurd as our guide, who speaks on Russian discourse with such disdain that you wonder how he is even our guide. Yet Sukurov manages, progressing us to appreciate the finer things of Russia.
The film is shot in one fluid shot, perhaps to establish a false sense of real time. Nestled in real space, he meshes the past of Russia and defies mortality. This space, this continuous shot, then encompasses every movement, every death and birth of Russian life that one can fit into such a film. He even manages to mesh the 2d world with the 3d world by syncing up audio with the paintings to place us in that realm. Still, the journey embraces the good and bad eras of Russian history, touching on the German siege of Leningrad, to heighten our awareness of Russian culture. The guide, all the while, tells us where Russia get its influence and incidentally it manifests into an informal, visually pleasing catalog of Russian history.
