Alexander Sokurov's 'Russian Ark' is generally acclaimed as a milestone in cinematography. In this film Sokurov reversed the idea of montage, creating instead the sensation of an uninterrupted flow of time encompassing three centuries of Russia's cultural history through a single, 90-minute take. Yet this film is but one milestone in the work of this versatile director. Since the 1990s, Sokurov's films have had international recognition at film festivals and through foreign distribution. In this, the first English-language book to cover Sokurov's full oeuvre, leading scholars on Sokurov unravel his work on documentaries; his early films and literary adaptations; his trilogy on leaders focussing on the decaying body; his films on passing youth and approaching age; and, of course, 'Russian Ark'. The book also provides samples of the major Russian-language studies of Sokurov's films to provide the reader with an insight into Russian approaches to Sokurov.

In this, the first English-language book to cover Sokurov's full oeuvre, leading scholars on Sokurov unravel his work on documentaries; his early films and literary adaptations; his trilogy on leaders focussing on the decaying body; his films on passing youth and approaching age; and, of course, 'Russian Ark'.

ContentsPreface: Liubov Arkus (St Petersburg)Introduction: Beumers and Condee1 Sokurov and the documentaryJeremy Hicks (Queen Mary University of London): Sokurov's DocumentariesEva Binder (Innsbruck): The Film Portraits of Aleksandr SokurovSabine Hänsgen (Koeln): 'Still Images': On Aleksandr Sokurov's cinematic minimalism2 Literary and cinematic affinitiesJulian Graffy (UCL): Border zones in the feature filmsNariman Skakov (Princeton): Intertextual Visions of PotudanRobert Bird (Chicago): Medium Intimacy3 Intimate EncountersMisha Yampolski (New York): Truncated Families and absolute intimacyDenise Youngblood (Vermont): A Day in the Life: Historical Representation in Sokurov's 'Power' TetralogyStephen Hutchings (Manchester): History, Alienation and the (Failed) Cinema of Embodiment: Sokurov's Tetralogy4 Remapping the EmpireJose Alaniz (Washington): Crowd Control: Anxiety of Effluence in Sokurov's 'Russian Ark'Birgit Beumers (Bristol): A journey through the Empire: Russian ArkNancy Condee (Pittsburgh): Alexandra5 Russian ResponsesSingle film reviewsMaya Turovskaya, How is it with me when every noise appals me? What hands are here?Petr Bagrov, On Music - However StrangeOleg Kovalov, We and The Lonely VoiceScript-Sound-EditingYuri Arabov, The Director Becomes the AuthorVladimir Persov, This is a ProcessLeda Semenova, Montage is the Final Approximation to the IdeaWorksSergei Dobrotvorsky The City and the HouseMikhail Trofimenkov Sokurov in the Struggle with RealityPLAKHOV Vlastiteli i tirany