Themes: Down on Their Luck, Labor Unions, Star-Crossed Lovers
Main Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Clive Russell, Craig Olejnik, Kate Nelligan, Kenneth Welsh
Release Year: 1995
Country: CA/UK
Run Time: 114 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The often tragic lives of the residents of a Nova Scotia coal mining town are viewed through the eyes of a depressed young woman in this grim period drama. Set in the 1940s, the film begins with a brief, intentionally puzzling interlude before flashing back several years to focus on the story of Margaret MacNeil (Helena Bonham Carter). Margaret has suffered through the death of her father and her brother, both of whom perished while working as coal miners, and has subsequently developed a hatred for the mines that provide the town's primary source of economic support. When she finds herself attracted to charming stranger Neil (Clive Russell), she is thrilled to learn that he has no plans to work in the mines. When Margaret and Neil marry over the opposition of Margaret's stern mother (Kate Nelligan), financial troubles force him to go back on his word, with unfortunate results. Based on several short stories by Sheldon Currie, the film draws an unrelentingly bleak picture of its subject, concentrating on the numerous hardships, from black lung to deadly cave-ins, that haunt the coal-mining community, resulting in a gloomy and at times morbid drama. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Peter Boretski - Grandfather; Norma dell'Agnese; Sean Hewitt - Doctor 2; Peter MacLean - Old man 1; Peter Marinker - Hiring man; Elizabeth Richardson - Sister; Matt Zimmerman - Doctor 3; Sam White - Young man; Barry Dunn - Mr. Campbell; Ida Donovan - Sarah; Terry O'Keefe - Miner; Paul Young - Doctor 1; Andrea Morris - Marilyn
Credit
Emanuel Jannasch - Art Director, Colin Neale - Associate Producer, Stuart Aikins - Casting, Michael Mahoney - Co-producer, Nicoletta Massone - Costume Designer, Myron Hoffert - First Assistant Director, Stephen Reynolds - First Assistant Director, Mort Ransen - Director, Rita Roy - Editor, Milan Kymlicka - Composer (Music Score), Milan Kymlicka - Musical Direction/Supervision, William Fleming - Production Designer, David McHenry - Production Designer, Vic Sarin - Cinematographer, Steve Clark-Hall - Producer, Mort Ransen - Producer, Christopher Zimmer - Producer, Claudio Luca - Producer, Mort Ransen - Screenwriter, Gerald Wexler - Screenwriter
Margaret's Museum is a critically-acclaimed 1995British-Canadian dark film drama, directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie's novel The Glace Bay Miners' Museum.
Set in the 1940s in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, it 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 (Helena Bonham Carter) has already lost her father and an older brother and for her, life alone would be prefereable to marrying a mine worker — that is until the charming Neil Currie (Clive Russell) shows up. Against the wishes of her hard-bitten mother (Kate Nelligan) 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 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. The advent of the film inspired the organization PAMAUG, which strongly advocates the usage of means other than manual labor to extract coal from mines.
Tagline: She found a way to preserve her memories forever.
