britts-707-666081 Reviews

The Monuments Men (2014)

Hollywood needs more movies about heroes

[6/10 · 8 April 2015]

The Monuments Men is a 2014 American-German film directed by George Clooney, written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov, and starring Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett. Based on the non-fiction book, a 500 or so page tome entitled The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel, the film relates the true story of a motley group of aging art experts tasked with finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items before their destruction by Hitler and the Nazis during the waning days of World War II.

Originally scheduled to be released in December of 2013, the film appeared on American screens in early February 2014 several weeks before the Oscars were handed out for excellence in Hollywood movie making for the preceding year. The selection of films and performances presented for consideration from 2013 had few heroes. We had stories about a bunch of Somali pirates, a corrupt Wall Street swindler, a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma, a Texas hustler who profited from importing AIDS medications, another sad tale of slavery, and a spinster trying to sell her tales to Walt Disney.

George Clooney is to be praised for bringing the story of a few aging "art warriors" to the big screen. The Monuments Men tried to preserve Europe's cultural history by volunteering to find about five million pieces of artwork stolen by the Nazis from wealthy Jews, museums, universities and churches before they were destroyed. It's a heroic adventure, the largest treasure hunt ever conceived. And a true story about some of the men and women from 13 countries who gave their time, talent, and effort for this worthwhile cause. Over 6,500 paintings were found at the salt mines in Altaussee, Austria. Gold bullion and 400 paintings from Berlin vaults were found in the copper mines in Merkers, Germany. Entire valuable private collections of wealthy Frenchmen were found at Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Important works such as the "Madonna of Bruges" by Michelangelo and Van Eyck's medieval Ghent altarpiece were salvaged.

Interestingly, The Monuments Men is not a war movie: it's Saving Mr. Rembrandt not Saving Private Ryan. And it's not really a humor-in-the-time-of-war film like Mash nor a comedic-drama like Oceans Eleven although Clooney plays a Harvard art restorer who gathers his "buds" for the adventure and some fun. It's a profound bit of historical and biographical drama. And it's about heroes.

Hollywood needs more movies about heroes.

Woman in Gold (2015)

Octogenarian seeks a golden painting of her aunt...

[8/10 · 8 April 2015]

From the beginning, I have wondered why Maria Altmann, a California woman who died in 2011 at the age of 94, began an arduous fight in her senior years to recover a painting of her aunt. The painting had been stolen when the Nazis occupied Austria in 1938. Altmann's fight began in 1998 when the Republic of Austria was considering an Art Restitution Act requiring provenance research in Austrian museums and collections and restitution to former owners and their heirs. The Act was instituted in 1999.

My interest in Nazi stolen art began in the early months of 2014 when I read two books of nonfiction. The first was a 5l8 page tome Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel, that related the true story about some of the men and women from 13 countries who gave their time, talent, and effort to save pieces of art and other culturally important items before their destruction by Hitler and the Nazis during the waning days of World War II.

The second book was The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Anne-Marie O'Connor. I found O'Connor's tale primarily a history of a prominent and wealthy Austrian family, whose heirs sought to regain their inheritance many years after the end of World War II. O'Connor relates the history, as noted in the acknowledgments, mainly through the eyes and letters of Adele's niece, Maria Victoria Bloch-Bauer Altmann.

About the only thing that Anne-Marie O'Connor, I wrote in a book review, doesn't give readers in her 349 page tome written in a flowery and compelling narrative is a simple yet spectacular-sounding description of Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt. The painting completed in 1907 is an oil, silver and gold leaf on canvas. It measures an awe-inspiring 138 cm by 138 cm and is considered a masterpiece of the Viennese Art Nouveau period (1890-1910). An art lover and blogger, Sabine Clappaert, tells us that "On first inspection, the portrait, with its vast expanse of delicate gold filigree that surrounds an ethereal face looks like just that: a commissioned portrait that flatters the upper-class wife of a mighty Viennese business tycoon..." Watch quietly, she says, for a while and you will note that "Surrounded by a daring sea of gold Adele appears fragile, and Klimt paints her with gentle intimate nuance. Her hair is delicately heaped, lids droop heavily across large almond eyes, plump lips parted slightly and flushed cheeks spread a warm glow across her face. Her elegantly tapered hands are folded loosely to hide a deformed finger..."

Soon I began to see why Maria Altmann sought to own the painting of her aunt but I still have one nagging question. Why did octogenarian and Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann and her stockbroker Randol Schoenberg (who also had a law degree) wage a lengthy battle, first with the Austrian government and then in the Supreme Court of America, to recover the painting of her Aunt Adele in 2006...and then within a few months of its recovery sell it to Ronald S. Lauder for his Neue Galerie in Manhattan for $135 million?

Perhaps an upcoming American British drama film WOMAN IN GOLD will answer my question. The film is directed by Simon Curtis and written by Alexi Kaye Campbell. Dame Helen Mirren plays Maria Altmann and Ryan Reynolds is the young lawyer, Randol Schoenberg.

WOMAN IN GOLD has a theatrical release of April 3, 2015 in select theaters.

The American (2010)

Butterflies and rifles...a priest and a prostitute...

[8/10 · 1 July 2014]

***may contain spoilers for some sensitive folks***

Have you seen "The American" with George Clooney? Confused by butterflies and rifles? It's a beautifully filmed movie...majestic mountains, snow scenes, hilltop villages. Set in Sweden in the early scenes but shifting to a medieval village in the hill country of Northern Italy for the remainder of the film. Although the critics say the only thing American about the film is the title and Mr. Clooney, they are rating the movie three out of five stars probably for the cinematography.

The film is an adaptation of the 1990 book by British writer Martin Booth (1944-2004)) entitled A VERY PRIVATE GENTLEMAN: the book explains all. Booth's tale is a character study about a loner who is no "gentleman": it is also a tragedy following events in the life of a gunsmith who sells his services to assassins. The style is partly in the form of classic confessional writing, as the protagonist seeks to explain the relevance of his choice of profession. The time of the story seems to be late 20th century, more or less similar to the year of publication. The story is written in the first-person narrative from the point of view of the main character, who is known as Edmund or Signor Farfalla.

There are only three major characters in both media (perfectly cast in the film especially George Clooney as Farfalla):

...Signor Farfalla, "Mr. Butterfly" is a middle-aged man from a country where English is spoken as a first language. He is loner who paints miniatures of butterflies and has traveled to the area to capture a unique native specimen. He is also a "shadow-dweller," a technical weapons expert who creates and supplies tools for high-level assassins. He is a lecturer of sorts in the novel, who is not apologetic about his profession: he sees the need for people who kill to change the world for the better. In the film, Farfalla is consumed by a feeling of doom over the use of his weapons and vows that he will retire after finishing the current product.

...Father Bendetto is the local Catholic priest in the Italian village. He befriends Farfalla, and they discover a common interest in wine, food, and discussion and debate.

...Clara is a young Italian student. She meets Farfalla when he becomes her regular customer in the local bordello.

THE American is a movie that will view better after reading the book! Even reading the reviews of the book will enlightened you. The main differences between the novel and the film are the aesthetic tone and the ending. Both endings are satisfactory...but only after reading the novel and viewing the film adaption...can one choose a favorite

Restless (2012 TV Movie)

William Boyd's film adaptation of his spy thriller finally comes to DVD...

[8/10 · 27 June 2014]

***may contain spoilers for some sensitive folks***

RESTLESS, the television adaptation of William Boyd's novel of the same name, was shown on UK BBC One and US Sundance Channel television in two parts in December 2012. The teleplay was nominated for two Primetime Emmy awards the following spring. Part one, the story of Eva's early life as a spy in the days leading to World War II, is beautifully filmed on spectacular locations in Europe. The cars used in the production are European vintage in beautiful condition. The costumes are interesting and appear authentic. The cast is superlative: Sally Gilmartin...Charlotte Rampling ("Swimming Pool") Eva Delectorskaya...Hayley Atwell ("Any Human Heart") Ruth Gilmartin....Michelle Dockery ("Downton Abbey") Lucas Romer....Rufus Sewell ("Zen")(Part 1)....Michael Gambon ("Dancing at Lughnasa")(Part 2)

The story begins in 1976 in a remote part of England when Ruth (a long red-haired hippie working on her doctorate) and her son visit her mother Sally Gilmartin. Ruth finds her mother in great fear thinking someone is in the woods behind the house trying to kill her. Sally has purchased a rifle, binoculars, and a telescope. She tells her daughter she was a Russian girl named Eva that was a spy for the British in a clandestine group that offered refuge for German informants and recruited Roosevelt's help for British causes in WW II. Sally implores Ruth to find and visit Lucas Romer, the only one she trusts in the group, to stop the present-day killers; she gives her daughter her journal of her days as a spy.

Eva's journal begins in 1939 German-occupied France when she is recruited by spy-master Lucas Romer after her brother is killed by Nazis. She is trained at a safe house in a remote part of England. The film emphasizes that Eva receives no weapons training, so it is clearer that she is training to be a seductress. (At least, clearer to me in the teleplay than in the novel.)

The restaurant scene, one of Eva's first capers, takes place in Amsterdam when she and Romer, but primarily Eva, are to rescue a Dutch informant. The man gives Eva the wrong "double password" and Eva escapes through a bathroom window and witnesses the informant's death by several Nazi diners. The scene is vivid and well done...and shows Romer's early dominance over Eva's activities. (He's across the street in a hotel with a pair of binoculars!)

Romer, played by a handsome Rufus Sewell with a thin mustache, is not nicer than in the book...still an arrogant, rude man! He stays in the shadows at Eva's brother's funeral and during her spy training. The several times they meet, he is discourteous and does not treat her as a lady (although one of her fake passports is for a Baroness). Both Eva and Romer smoke continuously. Other men light her cigarettes...just not Romer. There is a strange scene where one of the group, an older man, calls Eva to witness a murder posed as a suicide at a crime scene before the police are summoned. Eva recognizes the victim as one of the directors of the group.

One can still wonder in the film, as in the book, why Eva and Romer became lovers. It happens suddenly with a kiss and then a seduction in a hotel room. If I recall, it's right after the restaurant caper. (As someone mentioned in my book club discussion...love happens fast in tense times.) Although RESTLESS is an adult drama, there is no profanity nor any bodily function or display in bad taste. Romer's sexual practice (coitus interruptus) is hinted at in the hotel room scene...but you would miss it if you have not read the novel.

The first part ends when Eva is assigned to go to Washington, D. C. to persuade America to come to Britain's aid in its war with Germany. Her specific assignment is to seduce the aide of Roosevelt's personal assistant Harry Hopkins. Previews of the conclusion show her as a blowzy blonde.....

Stay tuned...