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THE RUSSIAN ARK
The Hermitage is to be seen in a new and
revealing light in a forthcoming film, a unique ninety-minute
panorama of the most famous palace in Russia, now one of the
great museums of the world. And more than a museum. In the
popular imagination the Hermitage is a living entity, a fabric
that breathes Russian history and culture. Quite apart from
the endless procession of people who have come to admire its
many artistic treasures, generations of the Romanov family
actually lived, loved, and, in some cases, died in a place
they called 'home' for all its rare splendour.
The new film will attempt to recreate, as
precisely as possible, the historical events which took place
in and around the palace. Nowadays such an effect can be best
achieved by employing all the scope and scale of a spectacular
modern medium to convey the full sweep of history through a
sequence of truly majestic rooms. In the words of the
director, Alexander Sokurov: "We are creating a film about the
Hermitage, for the Hermitage".
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THE IDEA
On the 23rd of December an unprecedented event will
take place in St Petersburg. Inside the Hermitage the film director,
Alexander Sokurov, will shoot a feature-length film, The Russian
Ark, in an hour and a half of real time. The camera will be switched
on and ninety minutes later switched off after proceeding through
thirty-five rooms, crossing four centuries, and re-enacting history
on the grand scale by means of an array of sophisticated effects. As
many as eight hundred and fifty actors and extras will take part in
some of the scenes in this unique production.
Of course, a film-maker as serious as Sokurov is not
really concerned about setting records, in terms of size and
quantity, for example. He is motivated more by a sense of artistic
purpose, by the idea of making an expansive film, in one breath, as
it were. The film, like all films by Sokurov, will contain his
visual meditations on the history of the Russian people and the
lives of their descendants today, an amazing voyage through war,
revolution, and social upheaval, which has left in its wake all the
landmarks of a great culture. Like the biblical Ark, the Hermitage
has steered a difficult course through the adverse currents of time
and tide. A treasure-house of life and art, it is also a testament
to the buoyancy of the human spirit.
We have lost or forgotten some of our traditions; we
have greatly altered our way of life, for better or for worse; and
our social behaviour and attitudes towards each other have changed
radically over the centuries. Only the creation of the finest art,
architecture, music and literature can sustain the idea of a greater
humanity, and give it a point of anchorage for the future, a safe
haven from the storm.
THE WORLD PREMIER OF THE FILM
will take place at
one of the big international film festivals in 2002.
THE RUSSIAN PREMIER will take place in May
2003
during the celebration of St Petersburg's 300th
birthday.
· ALEXANDER
SOKUROV: In one breath
· Mikhail
PIOTROVSKY: The haunted museum
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