Monuments Men

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
From Yahoo News:

As if George Clooney isn?t busy enough being cooler and more handsome than 95% of the guys on the planet, he?s put himself back on triple duty for his next project, in which he?ll serve as writer, director, and leading man.

Clooney is currently in Germany, where shooting has commenced on "The Monuments Men", a drama set during World War II. Based on a true story, "The Monuments Men" concerns a band of American and British art experts who teamed with the American military to rescue a cache of rare and valuable masterpieces that had been seized by Nazi troops.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/george-clooney-does-upcoming-monuments-men-192954240.html

This sounds like something our friend might have done during that period.

:)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
It also sounds very similar to John Frankenheimer's, "The Train" (1964) with Burt Lancaster. Loosely based on a true, WW2 story where the French Resistance rescued paintings stolen by the Germans. It's an excellent film so I'm hoping this new one will be just as good.
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
ABC News has a photograph of Matt Damon working on the film in England.

Stars On Set / Celebs at Work

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/slideshow/photos-stars-set-4695411

Stars on the set of 'The Monuments Men' filming on location in Buckinghamshire, England, May 30, 2013.
The film is co-written, produced and directed by George Clooney and
tells the story of a crew of art historians and museum curators who unite to recover
renown works of art stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them.


The film will star Matt Damon, George Clooney, and Cate Blanchett,
who was, of course, "Stalin's fair haired girl".

The scheduled release date is December 18, 2013.

George Clooney and Cate Blanchett were in another film about World War II
called "The Good German".

:)
 

Spurlock

New member
I saw the trailer when I went to see Gravity and thought it looked pretty interesting. Soldiers saving art from the Nazis.

It has a big cast and a pretty good story to it. Probably not an Oscar contender, but not everything can be. I definitely want to go see it.
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
I read the recent book Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel which is the basis for the new film.

Some of the stories about treasure hunting and art recovery read like episodes from World War II Indiana Jones adventures.

Other books have been written about this subject, I managed to get a copy of Salt Mines and Castles by Thomas Carr Howe which was published in 1946. Howe was one of the "Monuments Men" who had worked at the San Francisco Palace of the Legion of Honor museum.

I am certainly looking forward to watching this film when it comes out, it is now scheduled for December 18 (2013).

:)
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Sadly, the release has been pushed back to February of 2014, but I really am looking forward to this!

Weird that its new release date will virtually kill any Oscar chances for it. Looks like it could have had a real shot at adapted screenplay.
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
I watched the film "The Monuments Men" today at a local theater.

I thought it was an excellent film overall.

I am probably more familiar with the subject than most viewers as I read Robert Edsel's book on the subject, which is the basis for the film.

Also I knew about the US Army art recovery groups from Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd novels, and Thomas Carr Howe's 1946 book Salt Mines and Castles.

The film did take liberties with the true stories to shorten the number of characters, and there were some scenes which turn up in most World War II films now, such as finding gold rings and dental work.

There is a stock Nazi SS Colonel who murders one of the Americans and later orders his men to use flamethrowers to destroy a room full of paintings,

The only woman in the film is a French art museum official who records art being stolen by the Nazis.
She also distrusts the Americans and one of the Monuments group has to convince her to turn over her list of stolen art.

Some of the film is humorous, such as middle-aged men going through military training.

One recurring theme is the leader of the group trying to convince combat officers of the need to protect art for future generations.

A funny scene occurs when some of the men find a salt mine where the Nazis have stored some stolen art. One man digs through a wall and finds not art but a huge amount of gold.
The gold brings a visit by the top generals including Eisenhower and Patton.

I didn't see any obvious anachronisms.

There are some scenes of Nazis stealing the art, and scenes of Hitler planning his "Fuhrer Museum".
The actor who plays Hitler really looks like him.

The film is rated PG-13, but the rating is supposedly because some of the men smoke cigarettes, otherwise it would probably be PG or even G.
There are a few nude women, but only on several hundred year old paintings and sculptures.

George Clooney produced and directed this film, and there is a scene at the end where an older version of George's character is played by George's father Nick Clooney, who used to host the AMC cable channel films.

As an aside, I always thought that our lad spent World War II with this group.
Who knows better how to recover ancient treasures from the Nazis?
Some actual "Monuments Men" were members of the OSS.

post_lastcrusade_ahsigbook.jpg


:)
 

HenryJunior

New member
Thought it was a great flick. Had a packed house here, mostly from the retirement age crowd (everyone else was probably seeing the Lego movie :p ).

Anyways I really enjoyed this, it's nice to see a different point of view of WW2 that is rarely discussed. I think some critics don't like the pacing of the movie, but they don't seem to understand that this isn't really a "war" movie with gritty action scenes that stop the movie every 20 minutes. For instance the climax isn't even an action scene, rather a race against time. Fantastic cast overall, I'm glad Bill Murray didn't get overused for his comedic side, they found a nice balance. It's great to see Bob Balaban in more movies lately, I really liked his part. I was worried Jean Dujardin would disappear after his success with 'The Artist' but with this, and 'Wolf of Wall Street' I hope Hollywood hangs on to him for a while.

I realize Cate Blanchett is supposed to be French but I couldn't help but hear a little Irina Spalko in that accent :D

While maybe not the absolute best, it's nice to see movies are still being made that don't have to be overinflated, generic action fodder.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
WilliamBoyd8 said:
A funny scene occurs when some of the men find a salt mine where the Nazis have stored some stolen art.
If those salt mines were in Austria, I took a tour of them in 2007. The mines were rigged to be blown up in case the Allies got close?and they almost were destroyed but the miners dismantled all of the explosives. Thank G_d, because 2 of the paintings hidden inside were by Vermeer (a fave of mine).

Can't wait to see this movie. IMDB.com doesn't list an opening date for Switzerland and I wonder if it's going to show here at all due to the controversial subject. There's been a lot of recent criticism about Swiss banks & art galleries concerning their history of holding stolen Nazi loot; gold, diamonds and paintings (some of which were discovered in a Zurich bank just a few years ago)!:eek:

I'm also wondering if Cate Blanchett's character is supposed to be the woman whose memoirs were used as the basis for the movie, "The Train".
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
Rose Valland was the actual French woman who recorded art being shipped to Germany. Her book was the basis for the film "The Train".

The Cate Blanchett character in "Monuments Men" is loosely based on her.

As I remember, "Monuments" did not mention Switzerland at all.

:)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
WilliamBoyd8 said:
Some of the film is humorous, such as middle-aged men going through military training.
Quite a large chunk of the movie is 'humorous' (or trying to be) and it's this light-hearted approach that killed it for me. I thought the film stank. It's like a made-for-TV-Sunday-afternoon-family movie and the 1st half is terribly disjointed. So many scenes are completely irrelevant to the story and there's not enough investigating in it for my tastes. A very cliché, pedestrian affair and a complete letdown.

I'll stick with "The Train".:)
WilliamBoyd8 said:
As I remember, "Monuments" did not mention Switzerland at all.
You're right, the Switz does not get mentioned but Montreal does (or in Matt Damon's Bostonian accent, "Mantreal")!

The sniper scene takes place in Aachen, Germany where I've been a couple of times since a friend of mine moved there. It was the 1st German city to be taken by the Allies during WW2. The cathedral in the shots is where Charlemagne is buried and the priest talks about a bust of Charlemagne being stolen. Does the book go into more detail about this?
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Stoo said:
Quite a large chunk of the movie is 'humorous' (or trying to be) and it's this light-hearted approach that killed it for me. I thought the film stank. It's like a made-for-TV-Sunday-afternoon-family movie and the 1st half is terribly disjointed. So many scenes are completely irrelevant to the story and there's not enough investigating in it for my tastes. A very cliché, pedestrian affair and a complete letdown.

Agreed 100%. I wouldn't have minded light, humorous touches if the movie was actually, you know, funny.

But the movie spectacularly fails on all counts. It's not thrilling, it's not funny, it's not illuminating or insightful. It's an incredible waste of stellar source material.

I definitely need to watch "The Train."
 

WilliamBoyd8

Active member
Sometimes a film gets an Oscar and sometimes a Congressional Gold Medal.

On October 22, 2015 in a ceremony at the US Capital, the surviving "Monuments Men" were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the nation's highest civilian awards.

Not mentioned at the ceremony was one expert in recovering lost treasures taken by Nazis.

More can be found on the internet by looking for "Monuments Men Congressional Gold Medal";

Film inspires family to return stolen artwork:

There was a May 4, 2015 article about some items that heirs of US World War II personnel returned to Germany through a "Monuments Men" Foundation.

A painting of Queen Victoria and her eldest daughter, Victoria, who married German Emperor Frederick III, and a painting of Charles I ? had been in a castle near Frankfurt that was confiscated by the U.S. military in 1945 and turned into an officers' club. They were purchased by an American woman who was serving in Germany as a librarian in the U.S. Special Services after the war, said the foundation.

The heirs of the librarian contacted the foundation last year amid publicity surrounding the release of the George Clooney film "Monuments Men", an adaptation of the book by the same name that memorializes the team of museum directors, curators and educators deployed to prevent the destruction of historic treasures during WWII.

The "castle near Frankurt" is the Hesse Kronberg palace and the site of the "Hesse jewel robbery", where US Army officers stole several million dollars worth of jewels and gold. One of the thieves, Captain Nash, handed out artwork and silverware to club guests.

The "Hesse jewel robbery" was posted separately here:
http://raven.theraider.net/showthread.php?t=22149

:)
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
The choice when making a WWII film is whether to make something corny the veterans themselves would have enjoyed (Pearl Harbor, Red Tails, Captain America) or gritty like Inglorious Basterds or Fury, which is excellent. Unbroken was good but I'd rather rewatch Spielberg's Amazing Stories episode The Mission followed by Empire of the Sun. Haven't seen Imitation Game yet. Would also recommend Valkyrie for one's 1944 fix.

I mentioned elsewhere bingeing on WW II epics from before the blockbuster era, and recommended only A Bridge too Far and Caine Mutiny.
 

Duaner

New member
Moedred said:
The choice when making a WWII film is whether to make something corny the veterans themselves would have enjoyed (Pearl Harbor, Red Tails, Captain America) or gritty like Inglorious Basterds or Fury, which is excellent. Unbroken was good but I'd rather rewatch Spielberg's Amazing Stories episode The Mission followed by Empire of the Sun. Haven't seen Imitation Game yet. Would also recommend Valkyrie for one's 1944 fix.

I mentioned elsewhere bingeing on WW II epics from before the blockbuster era, and recommended only A Bridge too Far and Caine Mutiny.

I have that "1944 fix" you speak of and enjoy both the corny and the gritty (except for Inglourious Basterds - I found that to be an insult to the Greatest Generation. I consider it the worst movie about WWII ever made). But as you said Fury was excellent. Imitation Game was good - be sure to watch it. I actually preferred Unbroken when it comes to the 2014 WWII films. Kudos for mentioning "The Mission" episode of Amazing Stories. I found that online a year or two back and watched it about a half dozen times. It was a great story and fun to see Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland at the dawn of their careers. As for my binging on WWII epics, it is not complete without watching The Great Escape, The Longest Day, The Guns of Navarone or the overlooked Hell is for Heroes.

And a quick note on the film that this thread is about - Monuments Men is good fun - not spectacular yet rewatchable.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Imitation Game was good, though took a few too many dramatic liberties. The most glaring: "the use of cribs was the central attack model upon which the Bombe's principal design was based, rather than being an afterthought to the design." Also vilifying Commander Denniston as one who might have lengthened the war was inexcusable. Movies that underestimate the audience's understanding of math, or interest in slow steady progress, are pet peeves of mine.

Will give those other films a look! If Young Indy was still on the air there would probably be a Monuments Men episode right about now. Plus we got a scene at Neuschwanstein.
 
Top