I saw it yesterday. It was a remarkable cinematic achievement though I thought the script was a little lacking and the sequences didn’t really fit together very well IMO. Of course a more elaborate script would have increased the chances of a mistake and IIRC they only had one day to shoot in the Hermitage. Another trade-off was that the digital video-recording couldn’t do full justice to the magnificent interiors, paintings and costumes on display. Anyway I am looking forward to the DVD and I hope there is a good commentary and making-of feature which explains how they pulled it all off.
I saw it a couple of months ago at the Music Box in Chicago, one of the truly great theaters. I enjoyed it and it was fascinating to watch, but I have to admit the story was confusing at times and did seem to take a back seat to the concept. It was beautiful though and the interaction of characters from different eras was well done.
One thing I realized watching it was how used I have become to scene cuts. I kept expecting a sudden shift in the POV and there weren’t any, so for the first few minutes it actually made my eyes ache.
I thought it was magnificent, if not a bit disorienting to those of us not up-to-snuff on Russian historical nuances (which is why the Interloper character is an excellent device). I also found it to be an irresistable film–1/2 scifi (in that it’s about a time traveller who tries to make sense of his situation as well as tries to find a way back home), 1/2-pure period spectacle (with one amazing setpiece–the theater, the mazurka, etc.–after another). Exquisite, more than a little curious, not for all tastes, but tremendously beautiful.
I was benumbed by Russian Ark: it was a yawn. On the other hand, some of the most magnificent filmmaking ever accomplished is by Andrei Tarkovsky, credited as a source of inspiration by the maker of RA. Tarkovsky made more of an art out of the long take than anyone before or since, Welles and Hitchock included. The opening sequence to The Sacrifice is beautiful, and the meditative takes at the beginning of Solaris are awe inspiring.