8 Incredible Movie Scenes Shot In A Single Take
1. Russian Ark - The Whole Movie
Yeah...you read that right. Russian Ark - the 2002 historical drama directed by Alexander Sokurov - was shot in a single take. The whole movie. One take. The film sees a 19th Century French aristocrat exploring the Russian State Hermitage Museum, encountering various historical figures from the last few centuries.
Is it brilliant? Or it madness? Regardless of opinion, it's an absolutely astonishing feat. The film clocks in at ninety-six minutes, and displays an amazing thirty-three rooms of the museum, containing over two thousand actors and three orchestras. Yeah, and in case you've forgotten, it was all shot in one take.
The shooting of the film was so elaborate that (understandably) an entire documentary was made about its creation, called In One Breath. Supposedly, four attempts were made to film the movie. Eventually, the film-makers were left with just enough battery power in the camera (there was only one!) that they could attempt it a final time.
Of course, it goes without saying that timing, tracking and everything else was maddeningly intricate. The director recorded much of the sound separately, not using the microphone in the camera, because he would commonly swear when something went wrong, a piece of timing wasn't exact or any other issues arose.
Though the film itself wasn't a massive commercial success, it will surely go down in history as one of the most mind-blowing examples of films that utilize the single take.
What other movie long takes deserve celebrating? Share your favourites down in the comments.