The “cabinet of wonders”—a museum-like room stuffed to bursting with objects from the worlds of natural history, archaeology, and art—is a recurring theme in Todd Haynes’ new film Wonderstruck, based on a young-adult novel of the same name written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. There couldn’t be a more apt image for Haynes’ particular sensibility, which has always had something of the collector about it. An avid observer of period style and historical detail, he lays out eac...
