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A Filmmaker's Review: Museum Secrets S1, E3 - "The Louvre"

4/5 - A powerful documentary filled with enigmas

By Annie KapurPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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When it comes to documentaries on The Louvre, I like to watch the same one over and over again. It's called BBC's "Treasures of the Louvre". But, to change it up, I found this interesting documentary series that basically goes through many different museums and looks at their worst kept secrets and their best kept histories. There's normally five parts to each of these little episodes in which they go through different items in the museum and the strange and weird stories behind them. This sounds pretty good seeing as an episode lasts on average of 45 minutes.

The first thing I'll talk about is how I came across this TV show after missing it for what seems like such a long time. First of all, I have an Amazon Prime account and I was browsing through my recommendations. When I hit a web-series about Serial Killers, I scrolled all the way down to find the 'like this' section and there was "Museum Secrets". I had never even heard of it and since I watch so many documentaries about museums, I was very, very (and pleasantly) surprised.

This documentary begins by going through the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911. This is possibly a fault of the documentary because I thought this piece would much rather suit the end. To start off with such a monumental piece means that there is little room to 'climb up' and develop a sense of grandeur about the Louvre. Therefore, what we have is a documentary that struggles to get back to its own extremes after the analysis of the theft of the Mona Lisa. Also, because historically it happens last, I would have put it at the end for that reason too. It was a piece far more suited to close rather to open and if you watch the show then you'll see what I mean.

The second and third pieces are of pure brilliance. A death that is linked to how carousels were made and the murder of a king which is constantly being compared to the assassination of JFK. It is a visually stunning second and third act, which in most ways surpasses the first one. Given the subject of the first part, I would've thought that to make that section more visually stunning would be appropriate. But, as we would rather see the first act at the end, there is little to analyse here.

When looking at the final acts of the show, I would like to discuss my favourite section of the documentary that has a lot to do with one of my favourite works of art ever: The Raft of Medusa. The Raft of the Medusa is a shocking image even today. An image of suffering, of desperation, of cannibalism and despair. There is so much to learn from that image that there was actually a time where I set it as my desktop wallpaper years back because I couldn't stop staring at it. The way in which the documentary goes through it is very similar to the way in which "Treasures of the Louvre" does. As goes with the painting of the Coronation of Napoleon/Crowning of Josephine by Jacques-Louis David. Being a big romanticist art fan, I know quite a bit about French 18th-19th century art (and pride myself in that) - I can honestly say that though not very thorough seeing as it has about ten minutes to tell you about the painting, it is still fairly entertaining in its snippet. If you would like something bigger, watch "Treasures of the Louvre" by the BBC.

All in all, this documentary is a celebration of one of the most enigmatic and famous museums in the whole world. It goes through the following things: the Mona Lisa and its theft, the armour of Henri II and his unfortunate death, the murder of Henri IV, The Coronation of Napoleon and Crowning of Josephine, The Raft of the Medusa and the woes of the artist - Gericault. Within this, we have various methods used to emit a certain atmosphere. We have an almost playfully grand method used in the theft of the Mona Lisa, but then in "The Raft of the Medusa" we have a dark, dreaded and gloomy narrative that echoes darkness, destruction and a slow, excruciatingly painful death.

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About the Creator

Annie Kapur

190K+ Reads on Vocal.

English Lecturer

🎓Literature & Writing (B.A)

🎓Film & Writing (M.A)

🎓Secondary English Education (PgDipEd)

📍Birmingham, UK

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