Margaret's Museum

Last updated

Margaret's Museum
Margaret's Museum.jpg
Directed by Mort Ransen
Screenplay by Gerald Weller
Mort Ransen
Based onThe Glace Bay Miners' Museum
by Sheldon Currie
Produced byMarilyn A. Belec
Steve Clark-Hall
Claudio Luca
Mike Mahoney
Mort Ransen
Christopher Zimmer
Starring
Cinematography Vic Sarin
Edited byRita Roy
Music by Milan Kymlicka
Production
companies
National Film Board of Canada
British Screen Productions
Ciné Télé Action
Glace Bay Pictures
Malofilm
Distributed byAstra Cinema
Release date
  • 13 September 1995 (1995-09-13)
Running time
118 minutes [1]
CountriesCanada
United Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Scottish Gaelic

Margaret's Museum is a 1995 Canadian-British drama film directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie's novel The Glace Bay Miners' Museum. It stars Helena Bonham Carter, Clive Russell, and Kate Nelligan. The film won six Genie Awards, including acting awards for Bonham Carter and Nelligan.

Contents

Plot

Set in the 1940s in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, the film tells the story of a young girl living in a coal mining town where the death of men from accidents in "the pit" (the mines) has become almost routine. Margaret MacNeil has already lost her father and an older brother and for her, life alone would be preferable to marrying a mine worker—that is until the charming Neil Currie shows up. Against the wishes of her hard-bitten mother they marry, but, before long, financial woes lead to his doing what every other uneducated young man does in the town: take a job underground. His death in the mine, along with her younger brother, drives Margaret to a mental breakdown and, in her surreal world, she decides to create a "special" museum to the memories of all those who have died as a result of the horrific mining conditions.

Cast

Production notes

Part of Margaret's Museum was filmed in the UK. It carried significance in the local area of Newtongrange, Scotland as the screen debut of local TV celebrity David MacBeath, who appeared as an extra in the film.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 ½ stars out 4. [2] He praised the cast and wrote Margaret's Museum "is one of those small, nearly perfect movies that you know, seeing it, is absolutely one of a kind." [2]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyRecipientCategoryResult
1995 San Sebastián International Film Festival [3] Best FilmWon
Vancouver International Film Festival [4] Most Popular Canadian FilmWon
1998 Fantasporto Awards Helena Bonham Carter Best ActressWon
1996 Genie Awards [5] [3] Best Motion Picture Nominated
Mort Ransen Best Achievement in Direction Nominated
Clive Russell Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominated
Helena Bonham Carter Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Won
Kenneth Welsh Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Won
Kate Nelligan Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Won
Nicoletta Massone Best Achievement in Costume Design Won
William Fleming
David McHenry
Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design Nominated
Vic Sarin Best Achievement in Cinematography Nominated
Milan Kymlicka Best Achievement in Music – Original Score Won
Mort Ransen
Gerald Wexler
Best Screenplay Won

In 2001, an industry poll conducted by Playback named Margaret's Museum the 14th best Canadian film of the preceding 15 years. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Bonham Carter</span> English actress (born 1966)

Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award and an International Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Howards End</i> (film) 1992 film

Howards End is a 1992 period romantic drama film directed by James Ivory, from a screenplay written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the 1910 novel of the same name by E. M. Forster. Marking Merchant Ivory Productions' third adaptation of a Forster novel, it was the first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics. The film's narrative explores class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain, through events in the lives of the Schlegel sisters. The film starred Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Redgrave, with James Wilby, Samuel West, Jemma Redgrave and Prunella Scales in supporting roles.

<i>The Hanging Garden</i> (film) 1997 British-Canadian film

The Hanging Garden is a British-Canadian drama film, written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald and released in 1997. Fitzgerald's feature debut, the film was shot in Nova Scotia.

<i>Exotica</i> (film) 1994 film by Atom Egoyan

Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, and starring Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, Don McKellar, Arsinée Khanjian, and Elias Koteas. Set primarily in the fictional Exotica strip club in Toronto, the film concerns a father grieving over the loss of a child and his obsession with a young stripper. It was inspired by Egoyan's curiosity about the role strip clubs play in sex-obsessed societies. Exotica was filmed in Toronto in 1993.

Road to Avonlea is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the CBC Family Hour anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Disney Channel, with additional funding from Telefilm Canada. It follows the adventures of Sara Stanley, a young girl sent to live with her relatives in early 20th-century eastern Canada. It was loosely adapted from novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery, with many characters and episodes inspired by her stories.

Patricia Colleen Nelligan, known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides, and the same year won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Frankie and Johnny. She is also a four-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, receiving nominations for Plenty (1983), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984), Serious Money (1988) and Spoils of War (1989).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Russell</span> Scottish actor

Clive Russell is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in Ripper Street, Angus O'Connor in Happiness and Brynden Tully in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

<i>The Theory of Flight</i> 1998 British film

The Theory of Flight is a 1998 British comedy-drama film directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay written by Richard Hawkins. It stars Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh.

<i>Last Night</i> (1998 film) 1998 Canadian film

Last Night is a 1998 Canadian apocalyptic black comedy-drama film directed by Don McKellar and starring McKellar, Sandra Oh and Callum Keith Rennie. It was produced as part of the French film project 2000, Seen By.... McKellar wrote the screenplay about how ordinary people would react to an unstated imminent global catastrophic event. Set in Toronto, Ontario, the film was made and released when many were concerned about the Year 2000 problem.

<i>The Wings of the Dove</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Iain Softley

The Wings of the Dove is a 1997 British-American romantic drama film directed by Iain Softley and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, and Alison Elliott. The screenplay by Hossein Amini is based on the 1902 novel of the same name by Henry James. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and five BAFTAs, recognizing Bonham Carter's performance, the screenplay, the costume design, and the cinematography.

Boy Meets Girl is a 1998 romantic comedy fantasy film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, starring Sean Astin and Emily Hampshire.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film art direction/production design.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Costume Design is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian costume designer. It was formerly called the Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design before the Genies were merged into the Canadian Screen Awards.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Editing is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film editor in a feature film. The award was presented for the first time in 1966 as part of the Canadian Film Awards, and was transitioned to the new Genie Awards in 1980. Since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

The Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian animated short film. Formerly part of the Genie Awards, since 2012 it has been presented as part of the Canadian Screen Awards.

<i>Twelfth Night</i> (1996 film) 1996 film by Trevor Nunn

Twelfth Night is a 1996 romantic comedy film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring an all-star cast. Set in the late 19th century, it was filmed on location in Cornwall, including scenes shot at Padstow and at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, with Orsino and his followers wearing uniforms that evoke the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

<i>Barneys Version</i> (film) 2010 film

Barney's Version is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Richard J. Lewis, written by Michael Konyves, and based on the novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler. Starring Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman and Dustin Hoffman, the film follows Barney Panofsky (Giamatti), an alcoholic soap opera producer as he navigates his three marriages to Clara (Lefevre), "The Second Mrs. Panofsky" (Driver) and Miriam (Pike), his relationship with his father Izzy (Hoffman), and the mysterious disappearance of his friend Boogie (Speedman).

Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a 1997 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Bierman and based on the 1936 novel by George Orwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Plater and was produced by Peter Shaw. The film stars Richard E. Grant and Helena Bonham Carter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonham Carter family</span> British family

The Bonham-Carter family is a British family that has included several prominent people active in various spheres in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. "Margaret's Museum". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. TIFF . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 Ebert, Roger (21 February 1997). "Margaret's Museum". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Margaret's Museum - Awards & Festivals". Mubi . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  4. Vale, Allison (20 November 1995). "Special Report: The Genies: Margaret looking at the big picture". Playback . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. "Film shows Canada at its best" . Quesnel Cariboo Observer. 14 April 1996. p. 16. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  6. Posner, Michael (25 November 2001). "Egoyan tops film poll". The Globe and Mail .