^ Russian Ark is definitely not a conversational film, but it is indeed a masterpiece, entirely filmed at the Hermitage in St Petersburg, and in one shot, as Shadowyzard pointed out. A modern classic, and a very interesting film regarding Russian history.

If you're not too dogmatic regarding the one location criterion, I would recommend the recent film The Guilty, a Danish film by Gustav Möller: if I remember well, some of the last scenes are at the outside, but most of the film is shot at the emergency call desk of the main character. A real challenge, from a dramaturgical point of view, but it delivers a wonderful and powerful thriller.

Also, apart from the opening and closing scenes, I would recommend The Turin Horse by Béla Tarr. Another masterpiece of recent cinema.

Shadowyzard wrote: ^ Thanks kees. One shot, or single shot... Sounds more accurate indeed. I'm mediocre at best when it comes to cinema terminology. Russian Ark is quite a moving and moving movie. It moves a lot in a huge location. So it is a moving movie. Did I say moving?

Yes you said it! And it is moving, in every way. The travelling - to use the technical term - allows us to move from room to room and thus from scene to scene (which indeed means it is not a "one-scene" film, because the dramaturgy is much more complex than that, but the travelling allows it to be a single shot film!).

Would Silent Running qualify?

I seem to remember it all taking place on the ship.

The episode "Die Musik stirbt zuletzt" ("The Music Dies Last") of the German TV crime series "Tatort", which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and has over thousands episodes meanwhile (each one of full movie length), was filmed in one shot. They even managed to do a flashback in time in that episode by opening a door to a room in which the events of an earlier time happened.

Two versions were shot of this episode, one in German, the other in Schwyzerdütsch, a Swiss dialect of German; the episode took part in Lucerne. "Tatort" is a German/Swiss/Austrian cooperation. The episodes are located in several cities, mostly German, but some in Switzerland and Austria too. Each city has its own cop team.

If you are curious about this episode: There is a video on YouTube showing both versions at the same time in a part screen. The left half and left speaker are in Schwyzerdütsch, the right half and right speaker in German. Of course the visual parts are not exactly identical either because the movie was shot twice. By switching off one speaker you can decide which audio you want.

The episode also occasionally breaks the fourth wall and has one of the characters talking directly to the viewer.