The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Treasures of the Metropolitan

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a “universal museum”—i.e., all categories from prehistoric to contemporary times from every nook of the world are represented in a collection of 2,000,000-plus items viewed by some 17,000 visitors a day. Although it would take more than a week to see the entire museum, this production takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of all 17 departments, with each curator providing an introduction and discussing three representative works (including the newsworthy Euphronios krater from the department of Greek and Roman Art). While coverage of each piece is necessarily superficial, the high-definition-shot film (which employs jazzy camera techniques to maintain viewer interest) serves as a solid orientation video for prospective visitors, presenting the floor plan in color-coded units. In fact, for those with a limited amount of time, this could prove to be valuable in planning an itinerary, although the addition of foreign-language subtitle options would have been welcome for non-English-speaking viewers. A strong optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Reed)