Even if you’re not familiar with his arthouse fare like "The Sun," "Alexandra," and "Faust," you’ve likely heard of Alexander Sokurov‘s "Russian Ark." His 2002 movie took audiences inside the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum, for a film presented in a single, unbroken Steadicam shot. It was attention grabbing stuff, and now the filmmaker has made the Louvre his latest cinematic playground with "Franofonia," and a new trailer has arrived.
Starring Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth, Johanna Korthals Altes, Jean-Claude Caër, and Andrey Chelpanov, the docudrama details France’s relationship to the arts throughout history. Here’s the official synopsis:
Russian master Alexander Sokurov (The Sun, Alexandra, Faust) has once again presented us with a beautiful and nourishing work of art, a docudrama that is nearly as sculptural as it is cinematic. Rendering the past as something profoundly alive and meaningful to the present, Francofonia is rewarding in ways that are difficult to put on paper.
Beginning as a portrait of Paris’ world-renowned Louvre Museum, the film slowly expands into a monumental canvas upon which Sokurov traces France’s role as a dedicated supporter of the arts. Sustained through the centuries, France’s reverance for culture has remained unequalled by any other European nation. With tremendous intelligence and a singular attention to form, Sokurov surpasses all previous attempts to craft a cohesive cinematic vision of a country’s art and history, charting France’s evolution from the Middle Ages onward as it rose through times of war and peace to its peak as the dominant cultural hub in the heart of Europe.
"Francofonia" makes its World Premiere in Venice, and then have its North American bow at TIFF. Watch below.
