Museology and movies
During the holiday period I had the opportunity to read Museum und Film (Museum zum Quadrat 4, Verlag Turia + Kant, Wien 2004) again. It is the product of a workshop of the Arbeitsgruppe für theoretische und angewandte Museologie at Vienna. I have always been interested in the work of this group. Leading force is Gottfried Fliedl, one of the most creative museologists in Europe. In the project Museum und Film 124 movies are analysed from a museological point of view. They are all movies in which museums (and theme parks) play a role. Very often the museum is the site of a crime (43 x theft, 33 x murder); unfortunately very seldom a place of love (8 x).
On the Museum Discussion List "museums and movies" is a recurrent theme. Search the archives (http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/museum-l.html), especially August 1995 ("Museums and movies"), October 2003 ("Novels and films set in museums"), and April 2005 ("Books and movies that take place in museums"). Rebecca Anne Rushfield and Patricia Griffin compiled an interesting list of movies and novels in which restoration plays a role. See: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/rushfield/conservation-fiction/).
Craig Eliason created an "Art Historian Guide to the Movies" (http://personal1.stthomas.edu/cdeliason/ahgttmsupport.htm).
The most useful general website is, of course, the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com). Looking for museums where movies have been filmed might be facilitated by the "Where did they film that" website (http://www.wheredidtheyfilmthat.co.uk/index.php).
It seems to me that museums and theme parks are much more popular as settings than other heritage institutions. The only example of a movie in which an archive plays an important role is National Treasure (Jon Turteltaub, 2004). In The Librarian (Peter Winther, 2004) it is a library. It would be an interesting research project to analyse how professionals are portrayed. Compare, for example the directors of The Relic (Peter Hyams, 1997), National Treasure, and The Librarian! As introduction to the profession Rowan Atkinson's Bean (Mel Smith, 1998) is unsurpassed.
A few days ago I saw The Librarian. I didn't like the film as film, but it has interesting museological connotations. The building filmed it the old Palacio de las Comunicaciones (1904) in the centre of Mexico City. The building was used as national archive and houses now the Museo Nacional de Arte "Munal". As such an accumulation of heritage references: historic preservation, archive, museum and library. The library contains also a collection of objects. It is one of the most fascinating collections ever filmed: Tesla's Death Ray, the Holy Grail, Little Boy (Atomic bomb), the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden Fleece, Excalibur, Adam and Eve's Apple, the Goose that laid the golden apple, Pandora's Box, real Mona Lisa (in the Louvre only a copy is shown, of course), a Unicorn, and the Spear Longinus (Spear of Destiny). The last artefact is stolen and the new librarian sets out to ensure its safe return.
One of the nice scenes is the interview. The main character, Flynn Carson (Noah Wyle, better known as Dr John Carter in ER) applies for the job as librarian. The director asks him why he considers himself eligble. Trying to be funny, Flynn Carson says that he read a lot of books. The director is not amused and asks the same question again. Carson then wants to show off by giving an overview of his knowledge of classification theory. This again is not the right answer. "What makes you think you could be the librarian?", asks the director for the third time. Carson remembers what his mother told him: "The things that make life worth living cannot be thought here [in the head], but must be felt her [in the heart]". This is a nice concept of professionalism!
On the Museum Discussion List "museums and movies" is a recurrent theme. Search the archives (http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/museum-l.html), especially August 1995 ("Museums and movies"), October 2003 ("Novels and films set in museums"), and April 2005 ("Books and movies that take place in museums"). Rebecca Anne Rushfield and Patricia Griffin compiled an interesting list of movies and novels in which restoration plays a role. See: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/rushfield/conservation-fiction/).
Craig Eliason created an "Art Historian Guide to the Movies" (http://personal1.stthomas.edu/cdeliason/ahgttmsupport.htm).
The most useful general website is, of course, the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com). Looking for museums where movies have been filmed might be facilitated by the "Where did they film that" website (http://www.wheredidtheyfilmthat.co.uk/index.php).
It seems to me that museums and theme parks are much more popular as settings than other heritage institutions. The only example of a movie in which an archive plays an important role is National Treasure (Jon Turteltaub, 2004). In The Librarian (Peter Winther, 2004) it is a library. It would be an interesting research project to analyse how professionals are portrayed. Compare, for example the directors of The Relic (Peter Hyams, 1997), National Treasure, and The Librarian! As introduction to the profession Rowan Atkinson's Bean (Mel Smith, 1998) is unsurpassed.
A few days ago I saw The Librarian. I didn't like the film as film, but it has interesting museological connotations. The building filmed it the old Palacio de las Comunicaciones (1904) in the centre of Mexico City. The building was used as national archive and houses now the Museo Nacional de Arte "Munal". As such an accumulation of heritage references: historic preservation, archive, museum and library. The library contains also a collection of objects. It is one of the most fascinating collections ever filmed: Tesla's Death Ray, the Holy Grail, Little Boy (Atomic bomb), the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden Fleece, Excalibur, Adam and Eve's Apple, the Goose that laid the golden apple, Pandora's Box, real Mona Lisa (in the Louvre only a copy is shown, of course), a Unicorn, and the Spear Longinus (Spear of Destiny). The last artefact is stolen and the new librarian sets out to ensure its safe return.
One of the nice scenes is the interview. The main character, Flynn Carson (Noah Wyle, better known as Dr John Carter in ER) applies for the job as librarian. The director asks him why he considers himself eligble. Trying to be funny, Flynn Carson says that he read a lot of books. The director is not amused and asks the same question again. Carson then wants to show off by giving an overview of his knowledge of classification theory. This again is not the right answer. "What makes you think you could be the librarian?", asks the director for the third time. Carson remembers what his mother told him: "The things that make life worth living cannot be thought here [in the head], but must be felt her [in the heart]". This is a nice concept of professionalism!
posted by petervanmensch at
11:12 AM
1 Comments:
I recently saw 2 movies in which a heritage institution plays an important role, Thomas Crown Affair and Bean. I would like to share with you some thoughts especially for the first one not because I didn’t like the second (Bean) but because the first one (Thomas Crown Affair) is not a comedy with a lot of unrealistic things… In the meantime I was able to compare this movie with the original one back from the 60s with Steve McQueen in the leading role. What’s the difference between them??? I think that the main difference is the leading mens ‘hobbies’. Both of them are almost professional thieves with one main difference: Mr McQueen is stealing money and Mr Brosnan is stealing art.
Personally I liked the old one despite its age. It works very well - maybe better than the new. Besides there is a wonderful soundtrack behind the movie.
But while I was watching the recent remake I realized that it combines with a pretty nice way style, extravagance & affair. There is sth different in the whole concept: Beauty, a great Museum and Art in the middle. For some reason, for many people an Art thief strikes them as sth much more interesting than the originals robbery. Besides there are thousands of movies with robberies but how many films steal Art??? As time goes by and society is changing much faster than we could ever imagine many things like Art, the status of the rich people, people’s feelings about Art & Museums, popular hobbies in high classes are not the same more…They are changing with one way or another day by day.
For that reason the combination of Art and a rich man at his 40s in today’s society works as well not only because of the glamour that Art always carries behind but maybe because of how everything is portayed through the wonderful paintings in the Museum’s galleries wearing a nice suit holding his briefcase watching his favourite artworks just for fun and relaxing.
Nevertheless even in today’s Museum world I really don’t believe that it would be possible to steel a valuable Monét from the MET right under the noses of security guards, cops and hundrends of unsuspecting visitors.
We are living in a world in which the status of rich people is mostly exspressed with exceptional works of Art. Everyone wants and desires desperately sth rare and impeccable….a masterpiece!!! They want things that measure up in others eyes even if they have no idea about want they are going to buy…Even if they can’t even see a difference between Michaelangelo and Michael Schumacher…
I strongly believe that Art is always popular even in films, in literature, in Museums…As future museologists we should think maybe reconsindering our former beliefs how we suppose to make the whole concept of a Museum looks more popular, more fascinating, more relaxing, more interesting….like a hobby not only for high society and newly businessmen, but almost for everyone. We should not forget that Art is always a very interesting & adventurus trip through oceans, even for sb who is afraid of the deep blue sea…
Emmanouil Kalkanis
MA in Museology
Reinwardt Academy
October 5, 2005
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