Article
Top 10 museums in cinema
Museums and cinema, a great love story
From Paris to New York via Taipei City, the biggest museums play the biggest roles.
Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York
The figures alone make you dizzy: more than 2 million works of art, including 250,000 exhibited in the 180,000 m2 of the building, a surface area multiplied by 20 since its opening in 1872, 5 million visitors a year… The Met is one of the largest museums in the world and possesses unique pieces. And since art must be accessible to all, admission is by a donation of the amount of one’s choice.
Films shot within these walls: Maid in Manhattan, I am legend, When Harry met Sally, Thomas Crown, Hitch, Factory Girl, Remember Me, A Perfect murder, Head over Heels, Sexy Devil, Keeping the Faith
Click here to discover all the information about the Metropolitan Museum of Art
American Museum of Natural History – New York
Like the Met, the Natural History Museum is a must-see. With 32 million specimens, including 3 million in paleontology alone, this venerable institution presents a complete panorama of the history of natural sciences and human civilizations. Make old bones while walking through the rooms housing gigantic dinosaur skeletons.
Films shot within these walls: The Devil Wears Prada, Malcolm X, Night at the Museum, Miracle on 34th Street, Splash, Election, Wonderstruck, Green Card, The Nanny Diaries
Click here to discover all the information about the American Museum of Natural History
Museum of Modern Art – New York
Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Piet Mondrian, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne… And Edvard Munch, whose painting The Scream is to the MoMa what the Mona Lisa is to the Louvre. The Museum of Modern art is a must. In fact, with more than 3 million visitors each year, it is the third most visited museum in the United States after the Met (New York) and the National Gallery (Washington).
Films shot within these walls: Manhattan, Sex and the city
Musée d’Orsay – Paris
L’Origine du monde of Courbet, Le déjeuner sur l’herbe of Manet, Le bal du Moulin de la Galette of Renoir, Les Glaneuses of Millet, Les joueurs de cartes of Cézanne ou encore cet Autoportrait of van Gogh are some of the major works on display at the Musée d’Orsay. Inaugurated in 1986 and housed in the former Orsay station, the museum offers a vast panorama of artistic creation from 1848 to 1914 (painting, sculpture, decorative arts, photography, architecture…) and has the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in the world.
The films shot within these walls: The Trial, A Very Long Engagement
The Louvre – Paris
A medieval defensive fortress when it was first built in 1190, the Louvre then became the palace and residence of the kings of France until the departure of Louis XIV in 1678. Almost all the sovereigns who occupied the site left their personal mark there, through enlargement and embellishment work until they joined and became one with the Tuileries, now destroyed. After the French Revolution the Louvre becomes a museum. Opened in 1793, this one is meant to be universal. It still is through its priceless collections and the immense 135,000 m2 setting in which they are housed. With more than 9 million visitors a year, it is the most visited museum in the world with such a vast choice that it would take at least 96 hours to admire everything, spending only 10 seconds in front of each work! The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is of course his jewel with more than 20,000 people admiring it every day. And in the courtyard, another marvel appeared in 1989 with the glass pyramid of Ieoh Ming Pei. Despite its rich past, the Louvre is always in tune with the times, even if it takes a few years to get up to speed.
Films shot within these walls: Belphégor, the Ghost of the Louvre, The Da Vinci Code, Wonder Woman, The Lovers on the Bridge, Adèle Blanc-Sec’s Extraordinary Adventures, Bande of Outsiders, Francofonia, Lucy, Le Sens de l’humour, The Smurfs 2, Visage
Click here to discover all the information about the Louvre
National Gallery – London
One of Britain’s most illustrious museums had a modest beginning, however, with only 38 paintings when it opened in 1824. Soon, the National Gallery was flooded with paintings by masters. In the following years, Rembrandt rubbed shoulders with van Gogh, Vermeer, Turner, Bosch, Cézanne, Géricault, Delacroix and Renoir. The institution now offers, free of charge, an incredible permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, for which a fee is charged. It is tempting to be carried away by the atmosphere in this temple of culture. Stroll along Trafalgar Square, pose in front of one of the majestic lions, look up at the admiral on his column or sit by the fountain, before taking a cool dip in the company of the great masters of painting. How can you refuse such a proposal?
Films shot within these walls: Captain America: First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Mortal Engines, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, V for Vendetta, Secret Agent, Skyfall, The Werewolf of London
Click here to find out more about the National Gallery.
British Museum – London
The British Museum hides behind its splendid columns worthy of an authentic Roman temple some seven million pieces. Artifacts from all over the world are spread out within its illustrious walls. Objects of inestimable value telling the story of the world from the appearance of mankind to the present day. Founded in 1753 and opened in 1759, this emblematic museum of the English capital is nothing less than the most visited site in the country with six million entries registered every year. Formerly located in the Montagu House in Bloomsbury, it moved to its final location in 1865. And it was from there that the place gradually became unavoidable. Already rich in remarkable pieces, including the Rosetta Stone, acquired following Napoleon’s defeat in the Egyptian campaign, the museum is regularly visited by authors such as Charles Dickens and Angus Wilson in the immense and sublime reading room. Karl Marx also worked there. Travel through the ages and travel back in time at the British Museum! There is no need for roads here either or for plutonium-powered vehicles; just cross the threshold and let yourself be carried along.
Films shot within these walls: MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis, The 39 Steps, Chantage, Justice League, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Guggenheim Museum – Bilbao
Opened in 1997, the Bilbao Museum is one of the five cultural venues opened by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Three of them unfortunately closed, leaving only the one in New York, the Spanish one and a new project in Abu Dhabi. More than singular, its contemporary architecture, the result of an assembly of stone, glass and titanium, makes it one of the most appreciated buildings in the world. With these ephemeral exhibitions, her gigantic Puppy at the entrance and Louise Bourgeois’ frightening Spider, it is impossible to get bored or tired of this flood of culture.
The films shot within these walls: Sivaji, The World Is Not Enough
National Museum in Warsaw
Officially abbreviated MNW, this institution is one of the largest museums in Poland and the most extensive in its capital. 11,000 pieces make up his collection, including some paintings from the private collection of the infamous Adolf Hitler. The museum is also rich in a wide variety of Chinese, medieval and Nubian Christian art. The institution is also renowned for its numismatic and applied arts catalogues.
Films shot within these walls: The Man of Marble
National Palace Museum – Taipei City
Known for housing the largest collection of Chinese handicrafts in the world with some 697,490 pieces, the National Palace Museum has objects dating from the Stone Age to the Republican period as well as some very unusual objects such as the Boat carved from an olive stone. Built in a very tense political context and regularly the object of controversy, the museum remains, despite everything, a place to visit absolutely.
The films shot within these walls: The Wayward Cloud
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Cult! movies: 100 mythical places of cinema [French Edition]
Since the dawn of cinema, films have invaded the world and highlighted sometimes unexpected places. Every film location has its secrets. The latter are sometimes as exciting as the feature films themselves.
Did you know that the cemetery where the final duel of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was built from scratch and that no body lies there? Or that the bus ofInto The Wild has been moved to discourage fans from spending the night there? From the story of the construction of The Bridge on the River Kwai to the incredible encounter during the shooting of the last scene ofIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadeembark on an exciting world tour with the greatest stars of the seventh art. Shiver in the real haunted house ofAmityville and discover the terrifying anecdotes of the making ofApocalypse Now in the Philippines. Visit the building of Blade Runner before stopping at Hogwarts and finally landing in Jurassic Parkin the middle of the Hawaiian archipelago. What if we also took you behind the scenes of the making of the Hobbits’ village of Lord of the Rings ?
Produced by a team of pop-culture specialists and enhanced by numerous anecdotes, Cult! movies tells the secrets of the places that made the history of cinema.
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
By Damien Duarte
Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !