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
Editing by	Rita Roy
Distributed by	Astra Cinema
Release date(s)	September 13, 1995
Running time	114 min.
Country	UK 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.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.

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
• Steven Murray: Mute Doctor #7 — 'The one with the forearms'

Awards and Nominations

Year	Ceremony	Recipient	Category	Result
1995	San Sebastián International Film Festival		Best Film	Won
	Vancouver International Film Festival		Most Popular Canadian Film	Won
1998	Chlotrudis Awards	Helena Bonham Carter	Best Actress	Won
	Fantasporto Awards		Best Actress	Won
1996	Genie Awards		Best Motion Picture	Nominated
		Mort Ransen	Best Achievement in Direction	Nominated
		Clive Russell	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated
		Helena Bonham Carter	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Won
		Kenneth Welsh	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Won
		Kate Nelligan	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role	Won
		Nicoletta Massone	Best Achievement in Costume Design	Won
		William Fleming David McHenry	Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design	Nominated
		Vic Sarin	Best Achievement in Cinematography	Nominated
		Milan Kymlicka	Best Achievement in Music – Original Score	Won
		Mort Ransen Gerald Wexler	Best Screenplay	Won

External links

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