Russian Ark (Russia, 2002)

Alexander Sokurov is one of Russia's most important movie directors. He has made a couple of award-winning movies in the last decade. Perhaps Russian Ark is the most ambitious one. The story is about a French aristocrat who walks through the Hermitage Museum in St. Petesburg and encounters different chracters from the history of Russia. The movie was shot in one scene. In other words, the scene lasts 96 minutes, and there are no cuts in between. In order to do this, the movie was shot with the newest digital camera technology. It took the work of more than 800 extras placed in the different rooms of the museum. The last minutes of the film contain the famous ballroom dance, with hundreds of people dancing and a live orchestra playing, just like in the time of the czars. The costumes are incredibly detailed and the movie is an exhilarating non-stop ride into the history of Russia and its beloved Hermitage Museum.