The Monuments Men
Film Review
by Kam Williams
WWII Dramedy Recounts Secret Mission to Retrieve Masterpieces
Plundered by Nazis
Most people are probably unaware
that while Hitler was sweeping across Europe
during World War II, he simultaneously directed his army to plunder any
priceless works of art found in the course of its pillaging. For, believe it or
not, the cultural rape of the beleaguered continent was all a part of the Fuhrer’s
diabolical plan which not only included conquest and ethnic cleansing but turning
his Austrian hometown into the cultural capital of the Third Reich.
Consequently, millions of artifacts
were looted from museums, churches and private collections and transported to
subterranean sites such as salt mines where they’d be safe from aerial attacks.
However, the madman’s demented scheme also called for the destruction of any treasures
he deemed degenerate if they conflicted with his propaganda campaign touting Germany’s racial
purity and manifest destiny.
So, towards the end of the war, when
the Allies caught wind of what was afoot, they assembled a team
of curators, archivists and art historians whose stated mission was to retrieve and preserve as many of the stolen
items as possible. With time of the essence, the seven
experts started scouring the ravaged countryside in search of missing
masterpieces.
That urgent effort is the subject of
The Monuments Men, a bittersweet adventure directed by George Clooney. This
tragicomic account of the crack platoon’s heroics is very loosely-based on Robert Edsel’s
relatively-sober best seller of the same name, a meticulously-researched,
512-page opus encyclopedic in scope.
The film adaptation, which
understandably conflates events and characters as a concession to the cinematic
formula, was essentially designed with the masses in mind. Clooney, who stars
as Frank Stokes, surrounded himself with a talented cast
capable of convincingly executing with perfect aplomb a script which tends to veer
back and forth recklessly between suspense and gallows humor.
His A-list
ensemble features fellow Academy Award-winners Matt Damon (for Good Will
Hunting), Cate Blanchett (for The Aviator) and Jean Dujardin (for The Artist), and
nominees Bill Murray (for Lost in Translation) and Bob Balaban (for Gosford
Park), as well as John Goodman and Hugh Bonneville. Given the palpable
chemistry generated by their characters’ camaraderie, it’s a little sad that
they don’t all survive the perilous trek behind enemy lines.
A history
lesson about an obscure chapter of World War II successfully turned into entertaining
Hollywood fare.
Very Good
(3 stars)
Rated PG-13
for violence and smoking
In English, French, German and Russian with subtitles
Running time: 118 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
To see a trailer for The
Monuments Men, visit:
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