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In plainer English than the previous post, the set-up for Jem Cohen's Museum Hours is this: Anne (Mary Margaret O-Hara) borrows money to travel from Montreal, Canada, to Vienna, Austria, to hold vigil over her cousin, who is in a coma; there are apparently no other available relatives or friends who can fulfill this responsibility.
On a tight budget, Anne finds a tiny room to stay in, and she wanders into the Kunsthistorisches [Art History] Museum, where she is helped by Johann (Bobby Sommer), a compassionate museum guard. During her extended stay, they come to learn more about each other, sharing a connection as they explore the museum and various spots in Vienna.
That's the basic set-up. Simple idea, quiet unfolding, thoughtful movie. A keeper.
Today's Rune: Flow.
Jem Cohen's Museum Hours (2012/2013), set in Vienna and starring the city and its environs, the Kunsthistorisches [i.e. Art] Museum, Bobby Sommer, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Ela Piplits, delivers a beautiful and gentle meditation on art, cities, people and birds -- among other things.
I want to publicly thank Gina Mandas for the recommendation. Museum Hours is a very impressive work, with elements that remind me of Werner Herzog and Jean-Luc Godard combined with Tom Ford's A Single Man (2009) in its dazzling yet down-to-earth observational qualities. You gotta live, you gotta see things before departure time -- yes!
By some act of synchronicity, a few days before Museum Hours arrived in the mail, I watched a short documentary about Pieter Bruegel the Elder (circa 1525-1569) and his art, so was extra taken by the attention devoted in Jem Cohen's film to the Kunsthistorisches Museum's "Bruegel Room" and the precision of the Ela Piplits' character's musings about Bruegel's art and life. In the parlance of our day: Wow. Will watch again.
Today's Rune: Fertility.
