2. Russian Ark (2002)
This is perhaps the ultimate example of the continuous shot, as it runs for a staggering 99 minutes. It's an astonishing journey through time and space as a French aristocrat walks through 200 years of history in the Russian State Hermitage Museum. The tagline puts it perfectly: 2000 Actors. 300 years of Russian History. 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum. 3 Live Orchestras. 1 Single Continuous Shot. It's a sumptuous visual feast that's somewhat emotionally draining, as a lot of the time you find yourself awestruck at the amount of work that must have taken place behind the scenes to get things right. Yet surprisingly, there is a more impressive example of the continuous shot out there.