SOKUROV´S RUSSIAN ARK

REVIEW
RUSSIAN ARK
SOKUROV´S RUSSIAN ARK: FILM AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

Over the course of this essay, I will attempt to analyze the movie Russian Ark in terms of film and identity. The latter concept will be understood as a “set of proper features of an individual or of a community that characterize them opposite to the others” (http://buscon.rae.es/drael/SrvltConsulta?)




The director, Sokurov, shows his nostalgia for the tsars´s regime throughout the film, and does so through the Russian narrator who always experiences as we might, from our point of view. He criticizes the civilization and the barbarism when showing the dark rooms only during the 20th century, socialistic period. In this aspect he differs from other directors of this era with regard to the content of the Soviet age. “It had a specific ideological purpose: the task of irrevocably inculcating communist idelogy into the millions” (Richard Taylor, 1998)

During Russian Ark, Sokurov tries to look for the role of Russia in the world, especially focussing on the relationship that Russia has had over the last three centuries with the Western World. During the film we can appreciate a clear scorn of Western Europe, and the filmmaker believes that Russia is ambiguous; its identity is divided between the Asian world and the European, and such a scorn is represented through the character of the Marquis, although he will finally end up accepting Russia’s existence within Europe. Equally, we can see that Russia always seeks to identify with Europe and paradoxically differ from it. “The ideology and identity of Russian cinema in the 1990s is clearly different from that of the Soviet period: there is no single dominant ideology that is centrally directed and promulgated an elaborate machine and, although Russia is now closer to being an ethnically homogeneous nation – state in the Western sense than ever before, there is no real agreement as to what its Russianness consist of” (Beumers,1999)

Russian identity and it’s relationship with the Eastern and Western World

The interrogation over Russian culture with regard to the rest of Europe is one of the most sensitive topics of the movie, since Russia is very close to the Asian world, both in terms of its history and common culture and because of the worship of orthodox Christianity, similar to the oriental Christianity. During Russian Ark there are several moments in which this appears. For example, when they are in the room at the time Nicolas I receives an apology from the Persian emissaries regarding the murder of Russian diplomats, with the aim of not destroying their peace and union.




But under the tsarist monarchy of the Romanov’s, principally since Peter I, Russia felt the need to integrate into Europe, a continent developing its culture and science. Russia, as the Marquis indicates, tries to imitate the European ethos and attempts to reproduce the splendour of the Vatican´s galleries. The Marquis accuses the Russians of copying everything that comes from the Western World. We can see it during his trip to the gallery, which reproduces the Raphael's works: “Russian are so talented at copying!” […] Because you don´t have ideas of your own”. Also in this sequence we notice the relation of attraction and rejection that Russia was feeling and feels for the Western World. We can see it especially when the narrator comments that “the tsars were Russophiles but they dreamed of Italy. Wasn’t the Hermitage created to satisfy those dreams?” Dream of belonging to Europe.

The film emphasizes throughout the image of tsars who on the one hand receive elements of oriental luxury, but on the other hand try to be accepted as an educated nation, and as a valid member of the European civilization by means of the gathering of Western art.


Aspects of Russian farce are also present, according to the Marquis, before entering the gallery belonging to the Vatican. Concretely he says, “Russia is like a theatre. A theatre!” Subsequently he comments, “how pretentious they are!” He then concludes thus, “Theatre… What actors! and those costumes!” With such words the Marquis is accusing the Russians of acting, and attempting to be something that they are not. This view is supported in the film by the following; the Russians disguise themselves, dress themselves in good suits, fill the walls of their museums with copies of Western art, etc. For this reason they believe that they are inside Europe, hence the Marquis says “what actors” and “how pretentious they are” because they try to be more than they really are.



Sometimes the Marquis does not recognize that Russia has produced good musicians and poets. For instance, at the beginning of the film when we can see a Russian orchestra playing a song. He really enjoys this so he remarks that “they must be Europeans” and he does not want to hear what the narrator is saying to him, that they are actually Russians. He does not admit the talent of Alexander Pushkin either. He thinks that his poetry is “Nothing special”. Another example is when he hears a piece by Glinka; it is of exceptional quality and he admits it, but he refuses to believe that the composer is Russian because “all composers are Germans”

Idealization and nostalgia for the tsar´s period: Opposition to the socialist´s era

Another underlying message of this film is the nostalgia that the director feels with regard to the tsarist time; it is a historical, cultural and artistic nostalgia since it develops through the museum of the Hermitage. Conversely, he never mentions the real situation of the Russian people of this period, a situation which was completely opposed to the life that the tsar’s were living. Sokurov tries to seek the Russian identity by silently contrasting the gap between rich and poor. As Gillespie writes, “What emerges in post – Soviet film is a country grappling with its awesome historical legacy, struggling with an identity based more on cultural values than political or social structures and unsure of its geo – political status” (Gillespie D., 2003)
In case of Russian Ark, the director´s nostalgia for the tsarist time appears through the Hermitage, a place that holds the maximum artistic patrimony for Russians. The artistic treasures that are observed are notable: Rembrandt, The Greek, Go Dyck, medieval, Italian paintings, etc. Equally, we see the spectacular staging of operas and plays belonging to Catalina II of Russia and that period; a ceremony in which Nicolás I of Russia receives a formal apology from the Shah of Iran, and the idyllic familiar life of the children of Nicolás II of Russia is shown. Furthermore, one of the most beautiful moments takes place when the very pretty daughters of the tsar run, idealized as nymphs, along the corridors of the Palace.



The world showed is completely idyllic. Is it a dream? Are they ghosts? In fact the movie possesses an oneiric tone noticeable in several scenes. For example, they question the fact that the reality is in fact real. This happens at the moment in which they see Pushkin. Here the narrator ask himself “Is this a dream?” to which the Marquis answers “Maybe, maybe”.

This happens again when the Marquis leaves the room where the tsar´s porcelain cutlery is. We can also see in this example the nostalgia that the director feels for this period when the narrator says that “Monarchy is not eternal”. The narrator responds “Do not I have the right to dream a little?” With this reply the Marquis seems to be changing his mind over the Russian art and also its history. This change of attitude in the character stems from the quantity of works of art that he sees, the nobility of the Hermitage, so much culturally and historically, and meeting with people who love the art, especially the blind woman and the ballet dancer. This clearly shows he is suffering nostalgia for the absolutist Russian period.






During Russian Ark This oneiric tone increase when the protagonists remain invisible to the eyes of some of the characters. For example, when they enter the room where the meeting is carried out with the Shah of Iran, when they attend the meal of Nicolas II and his family, when they contemplate Catalina II of Russia, etc. “The 1990s ended as they started, with a film commemorating the last Russian tsar. The decade is symbolically framed by two films that revive a fateful turning point in Russian history, when a political order and a way of life disappeared together with the imperial dynasty. Both films aim at recovering the spiritual values that were lost and, therefore, tend to idealize the old regime” (Lawton A., 2004)




Idealization is perceptible in Russian Ark as the real situation of the lower classes is Russia is not portrayed. This reality is seen only when the director speaks about the twenty century, and in particular the socialistic period. We can observe this during a scene in which a desperate civil man is constructing his own coffin during the Second World War. Another pertinent moment occurs when they walk along the stairs of the Hermitage where the revolution was carried out in 1917; Sokurov says it was “A revolution. Very sad”. In the Winter Palace, Sergei Eisenstein had filmed October, his tribute to the revolution of 1917. The movie of Sokurov is the opposite to this one.

The real climax of the movie is in the final dance, where hundreds of participants dressed spectacularly in the fashion of the time and a big symphony band played. It is also magnificient and shows grandeur when the guests are going down the Palace´s stairs. This is probably the most nostalgic moment of the movie. On the one hand all the people in the scene are happy. In Russia they feel like in “a big family”. However, in this scene the Marquis opinion concerning Russia has changed and when the narrator says to him that it is time to leave, he answers “To where. What will we find over there?” For this reason, the Marquis chooses to stay. He does not want to go away because everything that he is looking for, cultural and historical, is in the Palace. Also, he has known people who love the arts and the luxury as much as he does.





Everything he desires can be found in Russia during the tsars´s time. At the end of the movie Russian Ark the Marquis seems to recognize that Russia is at the same level of culture and history as Europe, possibly even more. “Farewell, Europe. It is over” the narrator remarks when the dance finishes. This is a very symbolic moment since with such a phrase he seems to be saying that the tsar has already danced his last dance. Everything has finished. The Russia that Sokurov longs for ended some time ago, and it will only keep on existing in his sleep, as he shows in the movie.


Interconnection with other cultures


Finally the narrator sticks to a window that gives to the sea and says: “Sir, sir. A pity you are not here with me. You would understand everything. Look. The sea is all around”. This conclusion is very ambiguous, and allows many interpretations. It is interesting as he misses the Marquis. One interpretation of this fact is that Russia and Europe should have a close relationship. The Marquis changed his mind regarding Russia. Can Europe do that? “The promise of the new Soviet cinema is that it is becoming more fully connected to its own cultures and to an active interaction with other cultures around the World” (Horton A., 1992)

Sokurov leaves the end open for interpretation of the spectator, since we see through the camera the horizon with an immense sea where we are “destined to sail forever. To live forever.”


In summary, I have tried to demonstrate that Russian Ark is a movie that tries to find the Russian identity and the role that it has in the world, with principal emphasis on Europe. It is this continent that, at the beginning of the film, is despised through the Marquis´s character, although finally he seems to end up accepting it. The director shows his nostalgia for the tsarist period through the museum of the Hermitage without reproducing the painful situation of the people in that time. This barbarism was criticised by Sokurov only when the twenty century is shown concretely during the socialist time. Nevertheless, my reading of the movie is that the future of Russian identity lies in its interconnection with other cultures, as does the rest of the world.

saludos metaleros

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