Cinema's love affair with museums: from Hitchcock to Godard

A comprehensive survey by Roberta Vanali on Artribune explores the recurring presence of museums in cinema, from Alfred Hitchcock's use of the British Museum in "Blackmail" and the Legion of Honor Museum in "Vertigo" to Jean-Luc Godard's iconic Louvre sprint in "Bande à part." The article traces how directors have employed museums as settings for clandestine meetings, romantic encounters, heists, and existential reflections. Key films include Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence" (Rubens room), Leos Carax's "The Lovers on the Bridge" (Louvre Rembrandt), Aleksandr Sokurov's "Russian Ark" (Hermitage single shot) and "Francofonia" (Louvre), and Tsai Ming-liang's "Visage" (Louvre). Woody Allen's "Manhattan" features the MoMA, Whitney Museum, and Planetarium; "Match Point" uses Tate Modern. John Hughes' "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" showcases the Art Institute of Chicago with works by Hopper, Kandinsky, Pollock, Modigliani, and Seurat. Heist films include "The Thomas Crown Affair" (Metropolitan Museum, Monet theft) and "Topkapi" (Topkapi Palace). James Bond films feature the Guggenheim Bilbao and National Gallery London. Akira Kurosawa's "Dreams" enters Van Gogh's museum. Italian films include Dario Argento's "The Stendhal Syndrome" (Bruegel), Ferzan Özpetek's "Naples Veiled" (Museo Archeologico Nazionale secret cabinet), and Alberto Sordi's "Le vacanze intelligenti" set at the 1978 Venice Biennale with a Maurizio Nannucci installation.