Museum Hours

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie, if you can tolerate (very) slow-paced movies that is. At times the lack of direction was frustrating, but the other scenes surely made up for this. I was especially charmed by the main character Johann: whenever the camera drifted around the museum and Johann was left free to observe, it kind of reminded me of Werner Herzog's famous monologues.

I often want to run away to a city like Vienna or Prague, so for that reason alone, I found this film's meditations to be comforting. IT can be a tough watch at times, but looking back on it, it's a wonderful work. Combining the story with the art documentary sections creates a fascinating examination of the nature of art and of our awareness of the world around us, especially the finer points we often seem to miss. Must rewatch this.

This is the film equivalent of a pleasant Sunday afternoon with family. Quiet, small, unexciting but familiar and intimate. The documentary style made it feel much more warm and human. The cinematography is quite gorgeous, although with that many lingering shots of art and Vienna that seems like a given.

A lovely but deeply melancholy rumination on perspectives and observations concerning the world surrounding us and that ephemeral but invaluable quality of life as reflected and preserved by art in its relative immortality.

one cheap dig at obnoxious anti-intellectuals aside, an open-minded and open-hearted triumph, humbling and perspective-broadening.

Star Rating: ★★★★

Can't recommend it enough! One of the few films that I wish I've shot!

An inventive, risque experiment in hybridizing conversation drama and art documentary. The different elements are combined seamlessly and complement each other to form something laid-back and unassuming but genuinely pensive and thought-provoking. Really a movie for museum lovers - it recreates that feel, moreso than "Russian Ark" (which I did like a lot), of a part guided tour, part independent stroll through actual and figurative museum. Its true appreciation for art and life is catching.

Thematically, this is right up my alley. And even formally, with its deliberate pace and the images that play off of one another in the film. But there's something that feels just too on-the-nose about it all, and I was really underwhelmed by the final monologue, which kind of explains everything that was obvious already. Further, I really disliked the dumb American couple arguing with the museum lecturer--there's an ugliness to their portrayal that doesn't fit the film.