Helena Bonham Carter in Margaret's Museum (1995)

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Margaret’s Museum, directed by Mort Ransen (Touched, Running Time) and based on a short story by Sheldon Currie is a Slice-of-Life drama set in a sleepy, very-nearly-defunct mining village in Canada. The town is as bleak as can be, mostly because there have been so many mining accidents and several deaths (Mine-related, of course…) and, as the rule says, miners just can’t be rich.

The story centers on Helena Bonham-Carter (Fight Club, Planet of the Apes) who runs a museum which has a sign out front boasting “The Cost of Coal,” which I guess refers to the human cost, or something. Thankfully, it’s a rather unimportant symbol, useful more or less for a semi-interesting title.

The film itself is rather engaging, though. Margaret is a single lass, mostly because all the men in town are dead or paraplegic. That is, until the Gaelic-tongued, Bagpipe-toting Clive Russell (The 13th WarriorM) strides into town on size 32 feet and steals her heart. As overdone as that premise sounds, Ransen has done a fair job at keeping it fairly interesting through “real” dialogue and a host of interesting foils that help keep what could be a slow, dragging story, going along at a decent clip. Naturally, it’s depressing through and through but as a piece of these people’s lives goes, it’s more than entertaining, if in a less-than-happy sort of way. The end is fairly predictable but then again, that’s not what the movie is out to accomplish. The punchline isn’t the thing, here; it’s the journey.

It’s true that not everyone will enjoy Margaret’s Museum. Some will find it overlong and boring, although I didn’t see it that way. The beautiful cinematography will keep fans of the craft interested long after they’ve lost touch with the plot. Losing touch shouldn’t be a problem for most, though, as the two central characters are both more-than-capable actors and their chemistry on screen is palpable. You definitely come away with the sense that they’re actually in love and that fact alone carries the movie. B+

Nudity Report: Helena, never shy of on-screen nudity, bares her breasts in a shower scene with Russell.

Critics’ Vote: Ebert loved it and gave it 3 ½ out of four. Apollo gave it 81/100.

IMDb Summary: 6.9/10

Box Office: A modest $524,963. Not exactly a blockbuster…


Written by: Vance Moravian