A cinematic trip through the cathedrals of culture

Over 2,000 actors and extras and the classical music of three live orchestras, all filmed in 22 rooms in a single uncut, 90-minute shot? What sounds like a nigh-impossible superlative of form became a reality in “Russian Ark” (Russia/Germany, 2002) by Alexandr Sokurov. In one single, artificial gasp the Russian director’s mammoth project follows a nameless, unseen narrator accompanied by a French politician, the Marquis de Custine, through the Hermitage of the early 18th century. As a dispute breaks out between the two, they are met in the salons and corridors of the palace by real and fictional characters from the last 300 years of Russian history. (Brief side note: An even longer shot was captured by Sebastian Schippers in his 140-minute one-take trip “Victoria” (2015), which is set in the equally historic Open Air Gallery in Berlin.)

With “Das große Museum” (Austria, 2014), documentary filmmaker and art historian Johannes Holzhausen grants us an intimate look behind the scenes of the renowned Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In modestly filmed shots the Austrian takes a look over the shoulders of the various protagonists of the institute, the restorers, the academics, the marketing department and others, and through this personal panopticon creates a diverse portrait of everyday life in the museum. Along the way Holzhausen also tells us about the economic pressure on the cultural institution in times of global competition. “The brand attributes of how we want to be: stylish, masterful, touching, open. It all sounds fine, but you could apply them to toothpaste,” says one protagonist, both joking and serious at the same time.

“Museum Hours” (Austria/USA, 2012) takes us back to Vienna, and after the two abovementioned works we gradually move away from documentary territory again, because although Jem Cohen’s film initially appears to be a documentary, bit by bit a fictional narration creeps in. In what are once again very careful and slow-moving images – something many museum films have in common and which is perhaps a result of the respect for and the hush that prevails within the exhibition houses – “Museum Hours” tells the story of museum guard Johann (Bobby Sommer), whose favorite thing is to spend hours alone immersing himself in the Bruegel paintings in the great hall. This is until he meets Anne (Mary Margaret O’Hara), a kind of soulmate, with whom he continues to discuss art and life.

It’s only for about ten minutes that Tom Tykwer’s action-packed political thriller “The International” (USA/Germany/UK, 2009) is set in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. What happens there could be described as a lavishly filmed kick in the rear of the cultured world and is probably one of the most memorable cinematic museum scenes of the last few years, hence it forms the showdown of our sequence: In New York’s Guggenheim Museum a killer commando hunts for the Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and in doing so tears apart the exhibition house. A veritable small-scale war breaks out in the breathless minutes between the floors of the distinctive rotunda structure, with screaming museum visitors, bloodied bodies and bullet-ridden video installations by the artist Julian Rosefeldt all included. Since the scenes couldn’t be filmed in the original Guggenheim, the crew simply filmed in a replica in Babelsberg, which took 16 weeks to build. Guggenheim Babelsberg, a Bilbao effect like no other for what is undoubtedly a museum scene like no other.