Film review: hunting down stolen Nazi art in The Monuments Men
War film The Monuments Men shows George Clooney's talent behind and in front of the camera, writes Richard James Havis
THE MONUMENTS MEN
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett
Director: George Clooney
Category: IIA
Relaxed and clever, this George Clooney-directed war film about a team of art experts searching for works stolen by the Nazis succeeds because it credits its audience with some intelligence and empathy.
Lesser directors would have emotionally mugged their viewers to build a bond with The Monuments Men's beleaguered characters. But Clooney (who also stars in the film and has a co-scriptwriting credit) assumes that viewers can figure it out and simply gets on with telling the story, which is as engaging as it is eccentric.
Loosely adapted from real events documented in Robert Edsel's The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, the film trawls continental Europe during the final days of the second world war. The motley team arrest Nazi art thieves, discover hoards of looted art and even find the occasional stash of gold bullion.
The Monuments Men kicks off in 1944 with art conservator Frank Stokes (Clooney) telling US President Franklin D. Roosevelt that Hitler wants to open his own museum. And he intends to fill it with art stolen from the countries that he's invaded. As the allies are busy pushing the Germans out of the occupied territories, Frank worries that remaining artworks will be destroyed in the last days of the war.
Roosevelt gives Frank permission to form an outfit called the Monuments Men - a team of art experts who will go to the battlefields to locate and rescue the pieces. Frank's team is formed from an all-star cast featuring Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, and Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville.