The Great Museum

2015 • 94 minutes

À propos de ce film

Featuring unprecedented access to an influential and multi-faceted institution, The Great Museum reveals the inner-workings of Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the most important art institutions in the world. Widely known as the art palace that houses paintings by Rembrandt, Diego Velasquez, Pieter Brueghel, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio, among many other canonical works, the museum also features a remarkable and magnetic group of dedicated employees. As the camera follows the spacious rooms hosting some of the world's most valuable art works, director Johannes Holzhausen reveals a dynamic, reflective and fast-moving institution that's both adapting to the marketing and funding realities of the 21st-century while remaining faithful to its core mission.

Notes et avis

The Great Museum is a work of cinematic art on par with any piece in the Kunthistorisches. The cinematography, editing, composition of shots, and sequencing of vignettes combine to tell the behind the scenes story of this venerable, significant institution in an elegant way. Tour de force is somewhat of a cliche but it fits here. The artwork is stunning, the building overwhelming in both size and design, and the people are delightfully real as seen in when discussing the oppressiveness of the Hapsburgs or an aggressive numeral three or budgets. One of my favorite scenes was watching a very quiet frustration fit over restoration fail. The film digs into the question how does a great museum dedicated to preserving the past be relevant to the present? If you work in an institution with an internal as well as external mission, you will understand this tension. Not to give too much away but the chandeliers are a great metaphor. If you do view, don't do like I did and go for the standard definition. Go high definition. Such a visual treat deserves to be viewed in as much richness as possible. Highly recommended.