MUSEUM HOURS

There is very little plot in this intriguing wee movie from writer/director Jem Cohen although it is billed as a drama. Essentially it is this. Anne, a middle-aged Canadian woman, rushes off to Vienna after she gets a call that a distant cousin of hers who has no other family is in a coma.  In between her daily visits to the hospital to kill time she takes to visiting the grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum and befriends Johann one of the guards there.  The two form an easy non-sexual friendship after he offers his services as a translator and local guide. 

We learn very little about the pair beyond the fact that Anne has very little money as she only works occasionally, but nothing else is revealed about her obviously lonely life. Johann we discover went from being a Road Manager for a Rock Group, to teaching woodwork in a school, to ending up in his quietest job to date ostensibly guarding the art but in reality just observing the visitors.

The movie, like the Museum itself, centers around the famous Bruegel room which has the largest collection of his work in the world.  As we listen to the conversations between Anne and Johann, and to the words of an Expert Guide, the movie evolves into an Art History Lecture of sorts.  As they talk, Cohen’s cameras dart from one minute detail to another examining the often overlooked facets of Bruegels multi-layered pieces. It is quite an eyeful ….. and a visual treat …. but at the same time it leaves you up in the air wondering if you are indeed watching an Open University Lesson or an episode of the Discovery Channel on TV.

I still cannot decide what to make of this docu-drama and hybrid American/Austrian movie. It was shot in the winter, when Vienna looked very cold and bleak and most uninviting. And as for the cast …. Anne was played by Mary Margaret O’Hara a Canadian singer/songwriter and occasional actress, Johann was played by Bobby Summer a non-professional actor BUT the Museum that the movie was based in and around was very much the real McCoy.  It, and the art, took their starring roles very seriously.  

This is one for dedicated cinephiles and/or art history buffs …..currently showing in selected US theaters, but you may want to wait for it on DVD as it is a tad too long and you will want to have your remote in your hand!

★★★★★★