First a warning: Do not see this film if you are expecting ANY plot! It is a film shot mostly for the visual imagery and in this respect, I think this film is quite interesting.
It's a 96 minute film done in one shot, which itself is very interesting and almost worth watching for just this reason. The second reason to watch is that it provides a great tour of the Hermitage museum (former palace) in St. Petersburg for those that may not be able to go in person.
It will probably be more enjoyable to those who know Russian (although I think the subtitles were accurate & thorough) and a little about Russian/Soviet history. People (supposedly) from the last 300 years of Russian history are shown at various times throughout the film. The film only point out Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Pushkin, the rest like Nicholas II & family you are supposed to be able to recognize, so I am sure that unfortunately, there is A LOT that I missed & others will too.
There's some scattered conversations about Russia's fascination with Western Europe which seems (to me) the underlying theme of the movie. [In my opinion it would've been interesting if at the end they hinted about how American culture now seems to play the same role. Cultural emperialism via McDonalds/KFC and even the usage of English words over Russian ones....but that's an entirely different tangent and is unconnected to the Hermitage.] I hope that the point of the film was to encourage people to value the Russian contributions to Russian culture and not just the European (or American!) influence/contributions.
It's a 96 minute film done in one shot, which itself is very interesting and almost worth watching for just this reason. The second reason to watch is that it provides a great tour of the Hermitage museum (former palace) in St. Petersburg for those that may not be able to go in person.
It will probably be more enjoyable to those who know Russian (although I think the subtitles were accurate & thorough) and a little about Russian/Soviet history. People (supposedly) from the last 300 years of Russian history are shown at various times throughout the film. The film only point out Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Pushkin, the rest like Nicholas II & family you are supposed to be able to recognize, so I am sure that unfortunately, there is A LOT that I missed & others will too.
There's some scattered conversations about Russia's fascination with Western Europe which seems (to me) the underlying theme of the movie. [In my opinion it would've been interesting if at the end they hinted about how American culture now seems to play the same role. Cultural emperialism via McDonalds/KFC and even the usage of English words over Russian ones....but that's an entirely different tangent and is unconnected to the Hermitage.] I hope that the point of the film was to encourage people to value the Russian contributions to Russian culture and not just the European (or American!) influence/contributions.