7/10
Charming account of the Musée du Jouet (Toy Museum) in Brussels and its eccentric curator
14 May 2022
Opened in 1990, the Musée du Jouet (Toy Museum) in Brussels was a huge building housing tens of thousands of dolls, toys and games dating back to 1830. But even when this film was made in 2013, it had fallen into disrepair. Curator André Raemdonck had to force his way through towering piles of uncatalogued exhibits. The film's title, which translates as "Sunday, We'll See...", refers to his uncertainty about the museum's future. This doubt is shared by a committee, which seems unhappy about Raemdonck's management. (In all honesty some of the reviews on Trip Advisor were pretty bad: "It's more of a repository of old toys that are disorganized and poorly preserved.") Canadian director Sophie B. Jacques lets the place - and Raemdonck - speak for themselves. Some very young children are clearly delighted to be visiting. But Jacques captures an air of very faded grandeur. It would have helped to have had at least one exterior shot. We're not sure of the geography of the building, which seems to be part exhibition but mostly storage and living quarters. Raemdonck seems very tired, even when he's at a toy fair, buying odds and ends and putting them in a plastic bag. The film now has an added poignancy. Raemdonck died in 2020. The collection was put in storage and the building is now empty. Jacques's film has become a lovely obituary.
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