The message of this film seems to be: don’t go to a museum to marvel at a handful of timeless masterpieces that have nothing to do with your life, but instead go find new ways to see the world and think about what moves you in your daily life outside the museum. The film is set in and around the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which provides the setting for American director Jem Cohen to explore his musings on art history and theory (including a detailed Breughel interpretation). Another important element in the film is the exploration of the city itself. These wanderings through the museum as well as through Vienna streets and alleys are as important for the film as the medieval and classical works exhibited in the museum.

The skilful and completely unpretentious film also tells another tale: at the centre of this story is Johann (Bobby Sommer), a museum guard with an interesting past. While on duty at the museum, he meets Anne, a Canadian who comes to Vienna to sit at the bedside of a sick cousin and who one day stumbles into the museum. Yet their story doesn’t turn this film into your everyday feature film – Cohen, a documentary and experimental filmmaker lets the camera linger, therefore inviting the viewer to revel in new details of both the classic art works and the limitless wonders of the city. Yet the film also captures the intensity and emotionality between these two loners who discover a wonderful friendship.

Lukas Förster

Translation: Carla MacDougall