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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Watch The Monuments Men Movie

By Jaclyn Hurley


The Monuments Men movie is set during World War Two. It has an all star cast headed by George Clooney. Clooney also directed the film and co wrote and produced it with Grant Heslov. It it certainly not the typical war production that focuses on action, guns and battles. Instead this thoughtful story tackles a topic that is hugely important but gets very little publicity.

In addition to Clooney, other big name stars include Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and Hugh Bonneville. They all do an outstanding job of making this film very memorable. It manages to hit the right note considering the nature of the topic, yet never taking itself too seriously. In addition, the locations and sets are perfect. They really capture the feel of Europe in 1943 when the war was at its peak.

During the Nazi occupation of many European countries many officers began to take art treasures. This included priceless paintings, sculptures and much more. By 1943 it was widely known that on Hitler's orders massive number of valuable treasures had been taken. Some were heading for the Fuhrer's own collection, others to his planned museum in Linz and others to the private collections of his officers including the head of the Luftwaffe Hermann Goering.

The main character of the movie played by Clooney begins to understand that by the time the war is over Europe will be left with very little of its art treasures. In fact, the entire face of Western Civilization could be lost. He approaches the US president for permission to set up a special team of treasure hunters. In collaboration with the British the team heads to occupied Europe and begins their work.

The race to save the art works became even more intense when the allies realized that Hitler had issued a Nero Decree, stating that in the event of his death or if Germany were to fall, all the gathered treasures were to be destroyed. At the same time the Soviet Union is also in the hunt for treasure as a means of war reparations for the damaged caused to them by Germany.

Despite its attempts at humor the film does an outstanding job of highlighting one of the forgotten aspects of war. The collateral damage suffered by nations and their innocent people. There are frequent reminders of the absolute devastation suffered by much of Europe at this time and the enormous scale of human suffering.

One particularly poignant scene is when the team find a cache of hidden art treasures, that also contains a bag of gold fillings extracted from the mouths of concentration camp victims. It emphasises to the shocked viewer that people were reduced to the status of objects and even after death their bodies were desecrated.

The screen play was developed from Robert M. Edsel's excellent book that told the true story of the real treasure hunters during the war. It is the perfect opportunity for viewers to learn about one of the forgotten aspects of war. It also does a good job of showing the fate of many Jewish people at the hands of the brutal Nazi regime.




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