''Margaret's Museum'' is a 1995 Canadian-British

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

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 The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...

, including acting awards for Bonham Carter and Nelligan.

Plot

Set in the 1940s in

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, 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 A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

to the memories of all those who have died as a result of the horrific mining conditions.

Cast

* Helena Bonham Carter as Margaret MacNeil * Clive Russell as Neil Currie * Craig Olejnik as Jimmy MacNeil * Kate Nelligan as Catherine MacNeil * Kenneth Welsh as Angus MacNeil * Andrea Morris as Marilyn

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. 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."

Awards and nominations

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

References

External links

* * {{Golden Shell 1995 films 1995 drama films English-language Canadian films Scottish Gaelic-language films Canadian drama films Films based on Canadian novels Films set in Nova Scotia Films shot in Nova Scotia Films set in the 1940s Films about labour Films about mining Films about grief Films about widowhood Mass media portrayals of the working class Museums in popular culture Fictional museums British drama films Films shot in Edinburgh Films directed by Mort Ransen 1990s Canadian films 1990s British films