Cinematic Overdrive

Had a very cinematic day on Saturday… We started with the fantastic Bugsy Malone in the afternoon (the “Family Feature” at Chapter - two quid - bargain!!!), then took a chance, since it was on, and caught Russian Ark, of which more shortly. This was followed by a DVD double-whammy at home of the likeable and unchallenging My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and one of my favourite movies, Human Traffic (the “remixed” version of which I picked up on Saturday for eight quid - bargain!!!).

Bugsy completely ruled - so cool to see it again after all this time and on the big screen at last. Was slightly disappointed by the revelation/realisation that the kids were miming, but this was more than made up for by everything else about the film being as fun as I remembered. And oh, Talullah… *sigh*

Russian Ark was something else altogether. An incredible movie, one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. At the start of the day we had no intention of watching it - indeed had never heard of it, but after Bugsy we noticed it was on later and it sounded intriguing, so…

The first thing to say about it is that it’s a single take - no cuts, just one shot, an hour and a half long, moving through the Russian State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, following the main protagonists, who are an unnamed character in the first person, and a 19th Century French Diplomat. They walk through the building, sometimes invisible to those around them, witnessing events from Russian history which took place there, admiring the exquisite art around them, and discussing the relationship between Russia and Europe, the art, and the people around them.

It’s hard to grasp, so to a certain extent I stopped trying and just let it wash over me. I’m sure that with some more knowledge of Russian history some things would have made more sense, but on the other hand I don’t think I lost much of the experience for that. If nothing else it was a visual feast - the rooms, the art, the costumes…

The film truly came alive for me at the end. The last major scene is the last Great Royal Ball of 1913, at the end of which the hundreds of people in the ballroom begin to file out, the camera amongst them, and it just perfectly captures that poignant feeling you get at the end of a marvellous show where everyone’s shuffling outwards, having shared this great experience and now having to return, perhaps regretfully, to reality. It’s something I’ve experienced many times but never before seen captured like this - a truly original piece of film-making. This gently leads into the achingly beautiful, oh-so-gentle end of the piece, and quite frankly I was left stunned. Bash summed it up perfectly: “that was like a dream”. Like watching someone else’s dream.