I actually watched this movie twice. Once alone, the second time with Ann. I needed to talk to someone about it. I needed to figure out if I liked it. I find myself with extreme mixed opinion. Forget the sheer spectactle — 3000 actors, the longest single shot in cinema, one movie done in one take — that is a technical marvel and deserves respect. The idea is also quite unique — two men (one unseen. . .he is “us”) materialize in the Hermitage museum and get a private tour of Tsarist history. Sounds cool? There are times, though (and by this I mean vast 6 or 7 minute segments) where you are just watching a guy walk around and muse to himself. “El Greco. . .El Greco. . .nice, nice. . . ” These intermediate scenes (“knee plays” Robert Wilson would call them) are there to serve the function of the gimmick — one shot. This raises a philosophical question: do you risk boring your audience for the sake of a technique? The one shot certainly does work. The running joke Ann and I made as we watched the film was “would you say this movie had a dream-like quality to it?” You be the judge. I’ll tell you this: I watched it straight through two times and remained mesmerized enough not to get bored — or, at least, when I did get bored, I didn’t stay bored for long. Always a new batch of outrageous costumes in the next gallery.