Starring Bobby Sommer, Mary Margaret OHara
Directed by Jem Cohen
In 1995s Before Sunrise, an American slacker worked up the nerve to talk to a beautiful Parisian stranger. The pair spent a night drifting through Vienna and launched one of American cinemas most beloved film series. In Jem Cohens Museum Hours, an Austrian guard at Viennas Kunsthistorisches Museum finds himself compelled to talk to a Canadian visitor. This tiny gesture serves as the catalyst for one of this years most alluring and accomplished films.
Our first glimpse of Johann (Bobby Sommer) sees him set against a towering doorway in the museum. It not only invites us to admire Cohens composition skills but also illustrates Johanns humble nature. Dwarfed by priceless artwork, he goes ignored by the patrons, which suits him just fine. With the camera tracing his gaze, he lavishes as much attention on the museums visitors as he does on its prized collection of Bruegel paintings. Likewise, Cohens film suggests that there are as many enticing details to be found in the quotidian as there are in exquisite works of art.
In Anne (Mary Margaret OHara), the solitary Johann not only finds someone worthy of his fascination but also of his friendship. While hes articulate and eloquent and shes flighty and prone to ellipses, theyre remarkably at ease in one anothers company. In turn, their casual chemistry is something to behold. We feel fortunate every time they reveal a new facet of themselves or take us into a different corner of the city. As Cohen unveils these fragmented glimpses of such fully-formed characters, his film achieves an effect similar to Bruegels paintings: hallucinations of the real.
