Johann (Bobby Sommer) has led an interesting but loud life. In his younger years, he managed pop bands, driving tour buses around Europe, his ears ringing at gigs. Then as a woodwork instructor, the whine of the buzz-saw was his constant companion. Now, as a museum guard in Vienna, he reflects on how nice it is to finally have some peace and quiet. It’s a feeling I can empathise with at this time of the year after a long, thunderous cinematic summer in which every film seemed to crank it up to 11. Now, as silly season draws to a close for another year, Jem Cohen’s beautifully still Museum Hours feels like the perfect salve.
The film takes place in Vienna during winter. Anne (Mary Margaret O’Hara), has come to the city from Canada to visit a cousin who she hasn’t seen since her childhood and who is in hospital in a coma. While visiting the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum, she starts a conversation with Johann. Since Anne doesn’t speak German, he offers to speak to the hospital on her behalf. Soon the pair become friends and they explore Vienna and the museum together.
The story at the centre of the film is, speaking in artistic terms, minimalist. The friendship between Anne and Johann serves as a backdrop to a meditation on the relationship between art and everyday life and how we are sometimes blind to the detail within both. In his work at the museum, Johann watches both the artworks and the people who observe them – examining their reactions. In turn, we are brought on a virtual tour of the museum collection, beautifully captured by cinematographer Peter Roehsler. Outside the walls of the museum, Johann begins to look at his home city with the same searching eye with which he scans the work of Bruegel – where something familiar can suddenly yield new, surprising treasures.
Museum Hours is a must for anyone interested in art or indeed for anyone who needs a break from all the crash bang wallop that has soundtracked the summer. An academic thesis brought to joyous life with a simple and touching human story.