If you´re interested in art and if you enjoy
going to art galleries, why not watch a documentary? The National Gallery offers us the opportunity to watch a
documentary about the experience of visiting one of the most important art
galleries in the world. The National
Gallery – “the Gallery” as referred to by its employees – provides us with
one of those rare occasions on which we can watch a documentary in its original
language – English – at our local cinemas. This documentary will appeal to
anyone who enjoys art – especially in the form of paintings – and will enable
us to catch a glimpse of what it is like to work and to be a visitor in an art
gallery such as this one. The film director, Frederick Wiseman, has chosen the
well-known British gallery but the film may well have been a depiction of daily
life in el Prado, the Louvre or the State Hermitage to name but a few. This film shows us something
which might be obvious but something which is worth underlying: art is part of
history and that´s why, we must do our best to take care of it. The curators,
the docents, the guides and the scholars who work in the gallery explain to the
visitors the story which is behind each painting and by doing so, we learn not
only a story but a part of history which enables us to get a better
understanding of each painting but also a better understanding of the time the
picture was painted. By listening to the guides and docents, who manage to
catch the visitors´ attention by means of an entertaining and deep knowledge of
each piece of art, we have the feeling of, somehow, becoming part of history,
watching each painting thorough the eyes of the old beholder without
relinquishing our right to be what we truly are: a new beholder for whom the
experience of watching a picture in the 21st century is a completely
different experience from what it was centuries ago.
In my view, the narrative part of the
documentary is the most interesting one, that is, the part which has to do with
telling a story, the way in which each painting tells us a story and we become
witnesses and recipients of that story just by looking closely at the pictures.
But if you have any technical knowledge about art, if you are a sculptor or a
cabinetmaker, then you may enjoy other parts of the documentary. Other aspects
have to do with the various activities that the gallery organises, activities
which may go unnoticed for an ordinary visitor but are an important part of its
cultural programme: workshops where blind people can have the opportunity to
understand a picture thanks to a guiding hand and the expert explanation of the
docent, workshops where people feel free to draw … The documentary also pays
attention to an aspect which is central to any cultural organisation: promotion and public awareness without losing sight of the real goals of the art gallery. The fact that
the National Gallery is visually linked to Trafalgar Square – one of London´s
landmarks – makes the gallery turn into the target of many initiatives but the
people who run it wonder whether the gallery should become involved in
activities which are not really related to art.
In other words,
if you watch this documentary, you will learn about the discussions that the
members of the council have in relation to funds, promotion, publicity and
exhibitions. At the time the documentary was filmed, an exhibition on Leonardo
da Vinci was on display: long queues of people gathered around the building of
the National Gallery to watch an exhibition which didn´t need to be publicised.
However, the documentary also shows us the arrangements for another exhibition
without focusing so much on the name of the painter, instead, the focus is on the
delicacy and the care with which the workers and the curators work to achieve
the best perspective for the visitor.
In short, if you really enjoy visiting art
galleries, you are bound to enjoy watching The
National Gallery. However, there is a negative aspect which I don´t want to
hide from you: The National Gallery is extremely long, actually, I
think it´s the longest film I´ve ever watched at the cinema. I guess once
you´ve decided to make a film which cannot be classified as a commercial one,
you don´t care so much about its length and therefore, Wiseman has made the
film that he wished to make regardless of other sort of considerations.
As usual, films help us to understand the world
we live in and I can´t help thinking about how meaningful this film turns out
to be these days as we learn about the destruction of a UNESCO world heritage
site in Hatra (Irak). It is not a new fact, of course, there have been other
attempts to erase the traces of the past as if by destroying its art we could
destroy a civilization, an empire or a part of history. And in a way, we could,
that´s why, the role played by museums and art galleries is so valuable.
There is a film which also tells us about the
destruction of art in the context of war: Monuments
Men (2014) so we could conclude that history tends to repeat itself with
different variations but with the same purpose.
The cast of
the film Monuments Men, a film
directed by George Clooney.
Monuments Men is based on a true story: a group of men – art
scholars, historians, architects and soldiers – working for the “Monuments,
Fine Arts, and Archives program” saved pieces of art and other culturally
important items before their destruction or theft by the Nazis during the
Second World War.
Can you
think of a film which is inspired by art or any artistic aspect? Very often,
this type of films are based on books – in fact, Monuments Men is also based on a non-fiction book – have you read
any book which was later made into a film? Do you like art? What´s your
favourite painting or piece of art?
