Margaret's Museum

Margaret's Museum
Directed by	Mort Ransen
Produced by	Marilyn A. Belec
Written by	Sheldon Currie (story) Gerald Wexler & Mort Ransen (screenplay)
Starring	Helena Bonham Carter Clive Russell Kate Nelligan
Music by	Milan Kymlicka
Cinematography	Vic Sarin
Edited by	Rita Roy
Distributed by	Astra Cinema
Release dates	13 September 1995 (1995-09-13)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States Canada
Language	English Gaelic

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.

Plot

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 preferable 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, along with her younger brother, 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.

Cast

• Helena Bonham Carter: Margaret MacNeil
• Clive Russell: Neil Currie
• Craig Olejnik: Jimmy MacNeil
• Kate Nelligan: Catherine MacNeil
• Kenneth Welsh: Angus MacNeil
• Andrea Morris: 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.

Awards and nominations

External links

• Margaret's Museum at the Internet Movie Database
• Margaret's Museum at Rotten Tomatoes