Monuments Men (2013) Directed, Written, and Starring George
Clooney
“Then what are we
fighting for?” – Winston Churchill, when asked to cut arts funding to pay
for the war effort.
This is a true-ish story. FDR appointed a special unit to
move into the war zones to try and recover the priceless art of Europe that
have been stolen by the Nazis. This is the story of those brave men.
These were not soldiers, they were art historians, museum
curators, architects, and instructors. Not one of them could have enlisted in
the Army under their own merits. They were old, in bad shape, with bad hearts,
bad eyes, and bad backs. But they understood something… War doesn’t just kill
people, war can kill cultures. People die in wars, but others live and
repopulate in the world continues to turn. But if you kill the art of the
people, if you burn their books, if you erase their histories, then it is like
they never lived. We knew we would defeat the Nazis; we had to. But what would
the cost to future generations be? From the time he came to power Hitler
systematically seized the art collections of German Jews. As he invaded Europe
a steady stream of the treasures of 2000 years flowed into Germany. And if we
allowed this to go unanswered who would we be as a people in the wake of the
war?
And thus it was that art historian Frank Stokes (George
Clooney), Curator James Granger (Matt Damon), architect Richard Campbell (Bill
Murray), Prof. Walter Garfield (John Goodman), French curator Jean Claude Clarmont
(Jean Dujardin), art expert Douglas
Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) art critic Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban), and joined
by Private Sam Epstein (Dimitri Leondias) a German born Jew with the ability to
speak German and generally be useful. They were a token effort; they were meant
to fail. They were they are so that the brass could say we tried.
They succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations in their story
is one of amazing bravery, witty daring, low cunning and determination. It is a fascinating story, and makes a
remarkably entertaining movie. This
makes the critical snub to this excellent film all the more puzzling.
However I invite you to sit back and take historical long
view; this movie is entertaining. This story is important. In 25 years from now
schoolchildren will know who The Monuments Men were. That makes the creation of
the film worthwhile no matter what the critics say. And it all leads back to
the final scene in the movie where Frank Stokes is asked if the Madonna of
Bruges is worth the life of a man; if that man would say his life had been well
spent. The answer of course is yes. How can it be otherwise? Do yourself a
favor; see this movie see it in the theater where all the lovely art leaps from
the screen to fill your senses. It is totally worth it.
