Without words

Well, at least, without many of them…

I was reminded the other day of a haunting movie I saw this fall: Museum Hours. It is a small, quiet film. There’s some dialogue between the two main actors—a guard at the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum in Vienna and a visiting Canadian woman—but mostly, the film is about looking. Much of it is set within the walls of the museum, the camera panning over famous paintings, pausing, giving us a chance to really see. And, in some cases, to almost enter the life of the paintings, especially the Brueghels.

Generally, I’m a word person. I read a lot, write some. Increasingly, though, I am drawn to the visual world, a world where images instead of words speak to me. Museum Hours gently pulls us into the world of images—and shows, that to have an impact, you can speak softly. Or not at all.

My thanks to British writer John Harvey whose recent blog post reminded me about this lovely little film. Perhaps best known in this country as an outstanding crime writer, Harvey is also a poet, jazz aficionado, and art lover. His blog (http://mellotone70up.wordpress.com) ranges widely and is always worth following, often combining words and images in an appealing way.