in one breath

 

Wow. In one breath is the making of The Russian Ark and oh my goodness, it's just brilliant. It honestly makes me one to visit the Hermitage in St.Petersburg. I think this will definitely go on my bucket list. So the mastermind behind this movie is Alexander Sokurov and he kept saying throughout his interview that he only wanted to be recognized for the artistic result of the movie and not for anything else. Believe me, he is truly humble for declaring such a statement because after watching the making of, I don't think anyone can disagree that directing, producing, and filming this movie was somewhat of a miracle and that it was able to be done in a single day because wow, Sokurov, Büttner (cameraman), the 2,000 plus cast, and assistants were literally working with a time bomb. Anyways, I liked the critic that was interviewed a couple of times in the making of. He "got" what Sokurov meant to portray with this movie and it's really about the relationship of the Hermitage and Russia as two interconnecting entities; the relationship between life and art, life and culture, art and culture. Soukurov also delves into the relationship between Russia and Europe, a relationship that isn't so... nice and equal. Unfortunately, I don't know enough Russian and European history to comment further but yeah, really interesting stuff. And lastly, the ending- that was my favorite. Sokurov's ingenious view of seeing the Hermitage as a floating ark for Russian culture and history in the water that lives on forever is just brilliant. Brilliant!