National Gallery

2014 2h 54m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 48🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●89Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 1,696

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A portrait of the day-to-day operations of the National Gallery of London, that reveals the role of the employees and the experiences of the Gallery's visitors. The film portrays the role of the curators and conservators; the education, scientific, and conservation departments; and the audience of all kinds of people who come to experience it.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Leanne Benjamin
Kausikan Rajeshkumar
Jo Shapcott
Edward Watson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frederick Wiseman
Writers: Frederick Wiseman
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frederick Wiseman, shot by John Davey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Frederick Wiseman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Leanne Benjamin and Kausikan Rajeshkumar and Jo Shapcott carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3720794 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frederick Wiseman directs. John Davey behind the camera. Frederick Wiseman cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America, France. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 174 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Released 12 years ago.
3International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, France.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Frederick Wiseman, shot by John Davey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Frederick Wiseman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Leanne Benjamin and Kausikan Rajeshkumar and Jo Shapcott carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt3720794 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 48 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Davey
Editing: Frederick Wiseman
Runtime: 174 min · 2h 54m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: National Gallery (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 89/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 1,696 votes
MPAA: Not Rated
US box office: $253,941

Awards

1 win & 9 nominations

Also by

Frederick Wiseman

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb280390232022-09-03
★ 6/10
If you can visit the National Gallery in London personally, more power to you. For those of us who can’t, though, National Gallery is the next best thing. As is par for the course in a Frederick Wiseman doc, we learn a lot about the subject matter, and we do it by smosis; not in scripted interviews, but like any other museum visitor; i.e., listening to the guides, whom Wiseman allows to go on at length to better recreate the real experience. Additionally, as he is also wont to do, Wiseman peeks behind the scenes at the internal mechanism of the institution; in this case, the backstage look is not limited to the administrative inner workings, but also includes invaluable visits to the workshops where anonymous artists carry out the very important task of retouching, restoring, and preserving. Specifically, the National Gallery is an art gallery — that is, a space destined exclusively for the exhibition of artistic works of a pictorial nature —, but this institution emphasizes the integration of the arts, and accordingly the museum halls welcome such artistic expressions as a piano recital or a ballet.
CinemaSerf2026-01-30
★ 7/10
Was it heart and soul that was supposed to distinguish human beings from animals? Well perhaps here it ought to be more art and soul as we take three hours to look into the workings of the UK’s National Gallery in London. Now I know, the thought of a three hour long documentary might be a bit off-putting, but this has been segmented quite sensibly into vignettes that illustrate the myriad of aspects of the work that goes on - and there is no narration. From exhibitions, conservation and restoration through to gala fund-raising, this proves to be an informative and not always flattering look at the operation and logistics behind administering and displaying this phenomenal collection of art. Some of the board meeting footage does make you wonder if these are the correct people to be running something this significant to the nation. Indeed, on a few occasions their conferences appear downright amateur and their attitudes to the broader public at times seem to suggest that we are little more than a necessary evil in "their" gallery. The painstaking work involved in hanging and lighting some of these fairly hefty and often intricate pieces of work is quite intimately presented as are their public tutorials that attempt to help the general public understand so much more about the works and their artists than might be immediately obvious to the untrained eye. It’s a charity and so, like many others, is always cost conscious as it tries to encompass the widest variety of British and European painting and though occassionally it does stray a little into the realms of elitism, it’s still an impressive illustration of a chronology of mankind expressed through the eyes of the rich, the religious, the powerful and sometimes even the horse-lover, and it does open eyes a little to the delights in a building that maybe suffers from an image of exclusive stuffiness filled with tourists. It’s the kind of film you can watch in chunks, so no need to binge - but if you do, you’ll probably find it quite a compelling feature.