Margaret's Museum
Encyclopedia
Margaret's Museum is a critically acclaimed 1995
British
-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.
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.
Tagline: She found a way to preserve her memories forever.
1995 in film
-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-Canadian dark film drama, directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie
Sheldon Currie
Sheldon Currie is a Canadian author, critic and professor emeritus . His books include The Glace Bay Miners' Museum, The Company Store and Down the Coaltown Road. A movie, Margaret's Museum, was based on The Glace Bay Miners' Museum. Currie was born in Reserve Mines, Cape Breton as one of five...
's novel The Glace Bay Miners' Museum.
Set in the 1940s in Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, 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
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
) 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
Clive Russell
Clive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,...
) shows up. Against the wishes of her hard-bitten mother (Kate Nelligan
Kate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
) 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
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and in her surreal world she decides to create a "special" museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
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.
Part of Margaret's Museum was filmed in the UK. It carried significance in the local area of Newtongrange
Newtongrange
Newtongrange is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Known in local dialect as Nitten, or Nitten by the Bing ,it became Scotland's largest mining village in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Lady Victoria Colliery and a shaft over 1600 feet deep...
, Scotland as the screen debut of local TV celebrity David MacBeath, who appeared as an extra in the film.
Tagline: She found a way to preserve her memories forever.
Cast
- Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
: Margaret MacNeil - Clive RussellClive RussellClive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,...
: Neil Currie - Craig OlejnikCraig OlejnikCraig Olejnik is a Canadian actor. He is best known as the lead actor in the television series The Listener as Toby Logan, a paramedic with the power to read minds by hearing others' thoughts and seeing events that have happened to them from their point of view...
: Jimmy MacNeil - Kate NelliganKate NelliganPatricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
: Catherine MacNeil - Kenneth WelshKenneth WelshKenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his...
: Angus MacNeil - Andrea MorrisAndrea MorrisAndrea Morris is an American actress. She plays the role of quiet, shy, homeless girl Margaret on 7th Heaven. Her character was first introduced in the Season 11 episode "The Replacements", whom the Camdens eventually decide to take in.More recent work includes the webseries LA Sucks.-External...
: Marilyn - Steven Murray: Mute Doctor #7 — 'The one with the forearms'
Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Recipient | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | San Sebastián International Film Festival San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953... |
Best Film | ||
| Vancouver International Film Festival Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October... |
Most Popular Canadian Film | |||
| 1998 | Chlotrudis Awards | Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane... |
Best Actress Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress The Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actress or actresses whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and... |
|
| Fantasporto Awards Fantasporto Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from... |
Best Actress | |||
| 1996 | Genie Awards | Best Motion Picture Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Genie Award for Best Motion Picture is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian motion picture.-1st Genie Awards:*The Changeling *Cordélia... |
||
| Mort Ransen | Best Achievement in Direction Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film director.-1st Genie Awards:*Bob Clark, Murder by Decree*Peter Carter, Klondike Fever... |
|||
| Clive Russell Clive Russell Clive Russell is a British actor.Clive was born in Reeth, England and brought up in Fife, Scotland.He is a familiar face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys From the Black Stuff ,Hope And Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon,... |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Christopher Plummer, Murder by Decree... |
|||
| Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane... |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actress.-1st Genie Awards:* Kate Lynch, Meatballs* Louise Portal, Cordélia... |
|||
| Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Welsh, CM is a Canadian film and television actor . He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.In 1984 he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his... |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Gordon Pinsent, Jack London's Klondike Fever... |
|||
| Kate Nelligan Kate Nelligan Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal... |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actress.-1st Genie Awards:* Geneviève Bujold, Murder by Decree... |
|||
| Nicoletta Massone | Best Achievement in Costume Design Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian costume designer.-16th Genie Awards:* Nicolette Massone, Margaret's Museum* Michele Hamel, Eldorado... |
|||
| William Fleming David McHenry |
Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design Genie Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design The Genie 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.-16th Genie Awards:* François Laplante, Le Confessionnal... |
|||
| Vic Sarin Vic Sarin Vic Sarin is an Indian-born Canadian/American film director, producer and screenwriter. His work as a cinematographer includes Partition, Margaret's Museum, Whale Music, Nowhere to Hide, Norman's Awesome Experience, and Riel. He also directed such projects as Partition, Left Behind, and Wind at My... |
Best Achievement in Cinematography Genie Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian film cinematography.-16th Genie Awards:* Thomas Burstyn, Magic in the Water* Alain Dostie, Le Confessional... |
|||
| Milan Kymlicka Milan Kymlicka Milan Kymlicka was a Canadian arranger, composer and conductor of Czechoslovakian birth. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1974. He was best known for his composition of film and television scores, including those for the animated television series Rupert and Babar... |
Best Achievement in Music – Original Score Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music – Original Score The Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Score is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian original score.-1st Genie Awards:* Carl Zittrer, Paul Zaza,Murder By Decree... |
|||
| Mort Ransen Gerald Wexler |
Best Screenplay Genie Award for Best Screenplay The Genie Award for Best Screenplay is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian screenplay.The award's presentation has not always been consistent — in some years, a single award for Best Screenplay has been presented, while in other years separate awards have... |