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Austria · 2014
1h 34m
Director Johannes Holzhausen
Starring
Genre Documentary
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This feature documentary portrays one of the most important art museums in the world, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, and the work that goes into running it. It presents a unique look behind the scenes of this fascinating institution and introduces a number of charismatic protagonists dedicated to their fields and the museum.
In avoiding narration, interviews, music or any traditional method to draw the audience in, the film has a cold, unengaging feel, leaving it mostly for art buffs who like seeing taxidermied bears having their hair fastidiously cleaned with a tiny toothbrush.
The film creates a kind of romantic view of the minutiae of running a museum, yet it’s barely concerned with the actual artwork housed within. Maybe this won’t matter to the audience, if they find the mere idea of a museum fascinating on its own.
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
The Great Museum, in comparison, feels like a cursory guided tour.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
The ghostliness of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna derives from an identity crisis, where digitization threatens to eradicate the gallery space.
There are no interviews, thankfully no voiceovers, and no music; Holzhausen respects the viewer’s intelligence, just as he respects the museum staff.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
A pleasing, high-minded film; also something of a palate-cleanser.
Village Voice by Serena Donadoni
Holzhausen is respectful but not reverential, portraying the museum as a living thing that's being cared for with meticulous diligence.
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
In every sense, The Great Museum (Das grosse Museum) imparts a feeling of privilege — privilege on the part of those (the Hapsburgs) who built and opened Vienna's extraordinary Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1891, privilege among those lucky enough to work at such a rarified establishment and privilege on the part of any viewer of Johannes Holzhausen's wonderfully evocative and droll documentary.
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