Heralded as a new Russian masterpiece on its release in 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov’s revolutionary period drama unfolds in a single unbroken take, transporting the viewer through three centuries of history as contained within St Petersburg’s famous Hermitage Museum. Sokurov himself voices the disembodied narrator, who is led on a tour through time and space by a French nobleman (Sergei Dreyden) that encompasses grand balls, imperial pageantry, and royal figures such as Peter and Catherine the Great and Tsar Nicholas II. Featuring 2,000 actors and extras in a constantly unfolding act of cinematic choreography, the film remains a technical marvel – while raising thorny questions for contemporary audiences about the history of Russian imperialism and the complicity of European culture in the project of political power.