On Saturday the 8th of September I spent a night at the museum. And not just any museum, but the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. It's my favorite museum. It has been since I was a kid and it was so cool to be there for my other cultural love: Movies. I wasn't there for just any reason, I was there because I had won tickets (thanks to MovieZone) for the bluray premiere of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark! It was this big event, so I'm really grateful for winning those tickets. Of course I like to share my experience with you all, so here's a little review of the night.
Introduction with best dressed
I went with one of my friends and as we got there, there was a line of people waiting. Some dressed for a premiere (meaning pretty classy) and others were dressed partly or completely in Indiana Jones-style. As we entered we came into the entrence hall with a big Egyptian temple (more on this later). In front of the temple a screen was hung and chairs were set up. Our screening was to be held in front of the temple! Very fitting for the evening. But before we could start we had an introduction. First the director of the museum told us a few things about the museum itself and the temple, while the technical crew made sure the presentation was ready for the real introduction by Hans van den Berg. In his presentation he showed a lot of pictures and told us a bit of the story behind the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Why is Jones such an icon? What makes him so inspirational? He also cleared up a few things that would never happen to real archeologists, like the mystery with the staff, medallion and crystal... But who really cares about that, right? It was interesting, funny and did what it was supposed to do: Make us curious enough to come to the big exhibit starting October 13th 'The Egypt of Hollywood' with jewelry worn by Liz Taylor as Cleopatra (1963) or the staff from Mozes (The Ten Commandments - 1956). It's already on my agenda ;-).
But of course, the real reason we were there was for the premiere and release of the bluray boxset of Indiana Jones. And the first copy was in the hands of Mr. van den Berg. After his presentation he would decide which of the visitors was best dressed and would win this beautiful box set. He named a top three while scanning the crowd. One girl had exactly the right hat, which apparently is very hard to come by. Number two was dressed in a more Arabian outfit, which was really convincing. But the winner was a guy who had the exact and complete outfit of Indiana Jones: boots, jacket, hat, shirt, gun and whip, you name it. After congratulating him and handing him the boxset, we could start with the main event of watching a movie. Couldn't we???
But of course, the real reason we were there was for the premiere and release of the bluray boxset of Indiana Jones. And the first copy was in the hands of Mr. van den Berg. After his presentation he would decide which of the visitors was best dressed and would win this beautiful box set. He named a top three while scanning the crowd. One girl had exactly the right hat, which apparently is very hard to come by. Number two was dressed in a more Arabian outfit, which was really convincing. But the winner was a guy who had the exact and complete outfit of Indiana Jones: boots, jacket, hat, shirt, gun and whip, you name it. After congratulating him and handing him the boxset, we could start with the main event of watching a movie. Couldn't we???
Our screening room, with temple!
Technology...is...a... b-well you know
It's a museum right, so usually when they turn the lights of, nothing has to work. In this case it turned out that after they had started the movie and the lights went out, so did the sound (it went off). So they tried different things and got it working again. It took a couple of minutes, which gave us the time to get a drink or use the bathroom. But then twenty minutes into the movie and we got another break. This time, because every couple of minutes the screen went black. Not that big a deal, because it only lasted a couple of seconds, but still kinda frustrating to some people. Especially on some of those exciting moments with Mr. Jones trying to take a small statue and putting a bag of sand in it's place. Luckily they fixed it soon enough and we could really enjoy the movie.
Talking about the technology... Because it's a museum and - like I said - when the lights went out, everything goes out, the museum director did have a simple announcement. This was that turning of the lights, meant turning of the lights everywhere. Also in the bathroom! Though my friend said 'well, I'll just use my mobile phone with flash', the museum director pointed to someone in the back of the room and said that you could also ask her for a flashlight. LOL! Again, very fitting to the evening, that whole survival/searching thing.Very thematic ;-).
Talking about the technology... Because it's a museum and - like I said - when the lights went out, everything goes out, the museum director did have a simple announcement. This was that turning of the lights, meant turning of the lights everywhere. Also in the bathroom! Though my friend said 'well, I'll just use my mobile phone with flash', the museum director pointed to someone in the back of the room and said that you could also ask her for a flashlight. LOL! Again, very fitting to the evening, that whole survival/searching thing.Very thematic ;-).
Indy Jones
Now, I know this sounds terrible, but I have NEVER seen any of the Indiana Jones movies. That is, until that evening. I do love archeology and history, so I actually don't know why I have never seen any of his movies. But I'm very thankful I got to see the first one this way. Even though I still have some critique on the movie (the first scene with Marion was terrible in dialogue if you ask me), I think it's an awesome movie. And what I noticed right away was that I was really impressed by the way it was shot. So thumbs up for director Steven Spielberg. The movie was funny, exciting, exotic, action packed and a little romantic too. Put those ingredients together and you have a great movie. I can't wait to finally see the other ones as well. What I really loved about the screening was that afterwards the audience gave a big round of applause. Even though none of the makers were there. It was just out of respect for the cast and crew behind the movie and the audience giving thanks. At least that's what I think. The applause might have also been for the museum people though, for finally giving us a great screening in a beautiful setting. Despite a few hick-ups, it was a big succes.
Me in front of part of the temple. Couldn't resist :P
Location is everything
Like I said, in the background there was an Egyption temple. Given by the Egypt government and an original. Before the evening really started we got a chance to walk around in the museum - though I didn't want to go to far - and we took a walk in the temple. It really is awesome. Because it's original and kind of big, you really get that feeling that others walked there ages ago or that, like in Indiana Jones, there are hidden secrets in the walls or something. It would have been cool, but of course nothing happened. Other than a temple as a background and being surrounded by Egyptian statues, for me it was amazing to be in a darkened museum after hours. Can't really explain why, but I think it's totally awesome to have a screening then and there.
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