It's Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in the 1940s. Almost everyone works in the dangerous coal mine and there is a Chinese diner in town. Margaret MacNeil (Helena Bonham Carter) falls for bagpipe-playing Neil Currie (Clive Russell) who got himself fired from the mine. She lives with her mother Catherine (Kate Nelligan), younger brother Jimmy, father Angus (Kenneth Welsh), grandfather Dunald who suffers from black lung, and others. She continues to lose family to the mine. Jimmy has an illicit romance with mine manager's daughter Marilyn. Neil uses discarded materials to build a house overlooking the sea for Margaret. In a flashforward at the start of the movie, Margaret is running a museum in the house which horrified a visitor sending her running.Paraphrasing the famous Se7en line. What's in the Museum!? Other than that, the story is a little rambling. The central relationship isn't that dramatic. There are very few hurdles for their pairing. It delivers a compelling sense of the place. The tension is simply not that high. It does have a shock for the ending. I certainly understand the difficulty in adapting the novel but it's not dramatic enough (except for What's in the Museum!).

I have forgotten the reason that prompted me to seek out this film, but I did. And it was a pleasant surprise. The film was slow, but acting was good, and the depiction of a mining community in the 50's fairly realistic.Helena B.C. looked commonplace without the heavy makeup required for most of her roles in the likes of 'Room With A View', and looked natural and well-fitted for her role. The background music was well chosen, and very becoming of the stage it set, as was the scenery.Overall, this film is a small gem. Too bad it has been little known and not promoted properly.

"Margaret's Museum" tells of a young Nova Scotia woman who's bound by her family ties to a coal mining town where frequent accidents in the "pit" take their toll on the mine workers and their families. Not just another coal mining flick, "MM" focuses with musings, humor, and poignant moments on Margaret, who's nose is always running, and her assorted quirky family and friends. An engrossing, somewhat compelling, and almost charming little film, "MM" should appeal to those with a taste for slice-of-life flicks involving eccentric folk.

A film of almost inconceivable beauty & directness. Helena Bonham-Carter as sniffling Margaret is well past grand, as is Clive Russell as her Neil, with bagpipes, & Kate Nelligan as Mom. Not for the foolishly squeamish, but all others will experience grave, if occasionally hilarious, delight.