vienna

Museum Hours (DVD)

By Jem Cohen
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Michelle H.
Jul 2, 2016

Johann is a guard at the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum in Vienna, where he meets Anne, a Canadian visiting the city. A friendship develops that is intimate though not amorous; the absence of passion allows the film to forage for unique material. Museum Hours wanders, both in conversation and through Vienna, but is in no way adrift. Every image is anchored with importance, from trash on the corner to the Bruegels inside the museum, as the friends each discover the other through the lens of looking.  They’re neither quick nor clever, but their powers of observation are tremendous, and they’re