In the Tsar's Castle

First off, this movie struck me because of it's untraditional style and movement through Russian history. Since I'm not very familiar with the Russian history other than Tsar Nicholas II's family, I found it a little difficult to follow, but still extremely engaging.
In this regard, a few things popped out at me. First of all, the narrator's face is never shown. We are, after all seeing everything straight from his eyes and it is for this reason that our main character is never shown on camera. However, as far as the narrator is concerned, I felt that he was an understated man. He said very little and when he said something it was as if he was talking to himself. Rarely did he speak anything above a whisper.
The majority of his lines also seemed to have him repeating what a previous figure had said. He repeated key words or lines as if he was trying to process for himself what had just been said.
His companion throughout the trip, however, was energetic and always engaging with other people. He did what he pleased and often was in the way or being kicked out of somewhere, but he also always was enchanted by his surroundings.