DVD Review - The Great Museum (2014, Das große Museum)

Genre:Documentary
Distributor:Matchbox Films
Release Date:9th February 2015
Rating:PG
Running Time:
94mins
Director:
Johannes Holzhausen
Buy: DVD
The film documents Vienna’s world-famous Kunsthisorisches Museum in 2013, whilst museum staff prepare for the ambitious renovation and reinstallation of the renowned Kunstkammer Wien galleries.
The Kunstkammer Wien collection is at the heart of the Kunsthisorisches Museum and their website invites you “to experience a world of beauty and wit, curiosities and wonder”.  Though beautifully exquisite, there is a sense of fun and vitality to the artwork on display, which includes a sword fighting frog taxidermy and a collection of stunning automaton toys from the 1700’s.  Watching the film, it felt like director Johannes Holzhausen really responded to the artwork in his approach to the film, it felt non-pretentious and was easily digestible and captured the humour of the exhibits.

The film sets out to record all work at the museum whilst the gallery is being renovated, from that first pick axe into the parque flooring to the ribbon cutting ceremony at the end.  A fair chunk of time is given to document the detailed restoration work of the artwork that was undertaken during this period, which I found particularly fascinating.  You are given an up close view of staff working on the artworks and are shown the upkeep required to restore and renovate. From the precautions made to protecting artwork from moths and woodworm, to restoring aged paintings and ornate crowns, even the realities of the time it takes to clean all the glass cases is documented in some small way.

As well as displaying a behind the scenes look at the renovation, the film also reveals a peak at the internal workings of the institution, by including footage of internal meetings.  There’s a really telling meeting in the film where one of the visitor services team speaks up about never being introduced to other staff at the museum, that even though they are the people on the exhibition floor meeting and explaining artworks, they are usually the most under appreciated.  It’s no secret that a lot of these cultural institutions are prone to this sort of hierarchy and it was nice to see this imbalance recognised in the film.

As well as representing the hierarchy, I particularly feel Holzhausen has made a real concerted effort to celebrates the lives and the hard work of all the people who work at the museum, from the cleaners all the way up to the head curators.  And to be honest it's the people in the documentary who make the film and add a good dose of eccentric humour to the proceedings. There’s a scooter riding archivist, a curator feeding the neighbouring pigeons brie and nuts and a renovator getting very sweaty whilst restoring an amazing mechanical boat toy from the 1700s, aka an early office toy*.  Holzhausen really gives the people a chance to shine, well as much as they can when they're stood next to such beautiful artworks!

The documentary is presented without narration, is cinematic in nature with beautiful and funny shots throughout.  It is a passionate, well thought out, engaging, amusing and down to earth insight to the inner workings of a historical institution.  If you ever wanted to get a behind the scenes look at a museum then this is the film for you.  

★★★★

Alice Hubley

*The DVD extras include films showing the boat in action along with a number of other automaton from the era, which are a fun bonus feature to enjoy.