Museo Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Museo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 26, 2020

Alonso Ruiz Palacios' "Museo" (2018) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and a selection of deleted scenes. Also included with this release is an 8-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by producer Alan Page and technical credits. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

"Why ruin a good story with the truth?"

The real thieves that pulled off “The Crime of the Century” were caught by the Mexican authorities in 1989, but there are different official stories that describe what they did. These stories exist not because there isn’t enough information that can put everything in the proper order, but because the thieves reached out to a lot of other guys that considered doing business with them. Some of them were important guys, with plenty of connections and big reputations, which is why different versions of the truth emerged to protect them.

Alonso Ruiz Palacios’ film does it too, it offers another version of the truth that makes it impossible to figure out what really took place before, during, and after “The Crime of the Century”. It is by design too, though the goal of the film is very, very different. Indeed, instead of embellishing or simply creating new events that protect identities, the film temporarily becomes the thieves’ psychologist and begins analyzing their recollections to understand their thought process. In other words, it makes the most sense not as a reconstruction of the truth, but as a summation of a very personal confession in which fact and fiction are so closely intertwined that they essentially become the same.

The overwhelming majority of the recollections come from Gael Garcia Bernal’s character, Juan, who is part of a middle-class Mexican family whose members routinely do a lot of acting to appear united. They all know it, but Juan is the least experienced actor and as a result everyone’s favorite scapegoat. On Christmas Eve, Juan and childhood friend Benjamin (Leonardo Ortizgris) enter the iconic National Anthropology Museum, steal as many historic artifacts as they can carry, and then quietly disappear into the night. In the days that follow the friends meet a couple of shady characters that are supposed to make their dream of becoming millionaires come true, but the artifacts turn out to be so big and so important that they are told that no one would be foolish enough to purchase them.

As ironic as it may sound, the best material in the film is the one that actually ignores the burglary, which is concentrated in the middle section where the two thieves begin looking for a buyer. Virtually all of it has a dreamy quality that leaves the impression that the thieves are stuck in a very fluid dream that can be dangerous and beautiful at the same time. For example, over the course of a single night Bernal’s character nearly gets killed in a lousy night club and then ends up making love on the beach to its beautiful but disillusioned star (Leticia Bredice). Later on, a very promising meeting with a friendly international player (Simon Russell Beale) suddenly becomes a nightmare that the thieves barely escape from. If this is Palacios’ way of revealing the odd nature of existence in a country whose social structure has effectively collapsed, leaving its people stuck in a surreal circus where life is cheaper than a bottle of Corona, then it all makes perfect sense. The problem is, this material does not connect particularly well with the rest of the material that focuses on the thoughts, instincts, and actions of the thieves, and as a result that meaningful personal confession that the film aspires to be begins to look quite unconvincing.

Bernal and Ortizgris are quite good together, but it feels like they could have been brilliant with a stronger script and direction. As it is, the film looks a lot like a big collection of arty episodes, many of which are quite simply incompatible.

According to press materials, Palacios and his cinematographer Damián García shot a lot of key footage at never-before-filmed locations in Mexico. (The forest and beach footage looks absolutely gorgeous).

Museo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Museo arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The manner in which light is managed throughout the film occasionally produces some rather unusual contrasts, but I think that the master handles them very well. There really are only a couple of darker sequences where I thought a few small artifacts were ready to sneak in. but even they looked fine on my system. Colors are very natural and with equally impressive nuances, though my guess is that in its native resolution and with an expanded color spectrum the entire film would look even better. Image stability is outstanding. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Museo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the film with the 5.1 track. Obviously, the audio for this film was recorded and mixed with contemporary equipment, which is why its basic characteristics are outstanding. Yes, dynamic intensity is still modest, but the subtle dynamic nuances and separation are quite impressive.

Museo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Museo. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes - in Spanish, with optional English subtitles. (1080p).
  
  1. Hit & Run
  2. Have You Got Any Ether?
  3. Second Thoughts
  4. Palal's Seond Coming
  5. The Hard Life of an Easy Woman

• Booklet - 8-page illustrated booklet featuring producer Alan Page's essay "Stolen Goods" and technical credits.

Museo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is a lot of good material in this film, nicely acted, beautifully shot. The problem is, some of it is incompatible with its story. Alonso Ruiz Palacios should have used it for two different films, one being the quirky reconstruction of "The Crime of the Century", and the other perhaps the arty mind-bender with a social message that begins to emerge during the thieves' journey. I still enjoyed it, but with Gael García Bernal involved, I felt that the end product should have been far superior. RECOMMENDED.