The film is based on a documentary book by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. It is all about the greatest treasure hunt in history. Events unfold in the years of World War II, when Adolf Hitler came to power. He visited Italy and was just amazed at the beauty of this city. Perhaps at this time he decided to assemble the largest collection of art objects. Whatever it was, his art critics were secretly conducting an inventory of museum treasures from various European cities. Well, everyone knows about what happened to these values in the future: the agents of the Third Reich did not disregard any museum or private collection.
However, The Monuments Men (2014) movie tells not about them, but the heroes of the war who are rarely mentioned in history books. This is the story of the art critics who voluntarily put on uniforms to move with the army often being on the front line to save the works of Rubens and Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Dyck. The search for these treasures demanded from them not only courage, but also exceptional detective abilities. That is why the film based on the documentary book (very wittily written), turned out to be more fascinating than any thriller. Great cast, interesting directorial finds, beautiful camera work – this is something that is worth watching. It is one of the most important productions proposed in 2014. And it’s not just the artistic merits of the movie. It brings us back to one of the most important topics about which lately is not often remembered and used to say quite rare. Well, the story about courage – this is true in any era.
The Monuments Men is based on true events about the greatest worldwide hunt for precious treasures in the whole history. In those days when there was a severe war, some people who were engaged in a variety of art and artifacts would come together in a few groups in order to save at least something. For example, works of art of the greatest painters that somehow were stolen by the Nazis and the best part was specifically destroyed, but not all objects of art were destroyed, and before the Nazis have time to destroy them, they need to hurry. A small group of people need to have time and patience to find and to pick up all the expensive artifacts as quickly as possible.
George Clooney has left only the most famous masters: Michelangelo, Picasso, Rembrandt – in short, only recognizable “brands”. Clooney’s art critics behave as if they are not scientists, but enthusiastic amateurs: we won’t hear any curious and original thinking about the art. And when you consider that Clooney caricatured the stereotypes concerning his nationality in each character, it becomes clear that the film in front of us is intended to be a hit of the movie world. No more and no less.
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