Wonderfully offbeat film!

very weak, unfortunately

To me, this movie is perfection.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Greetings again from the darkness. Watching the 2014 release of The Monuments Men inspired me to re-watch this fascinating documentary on the same subject. Thanks to the interviews of real life Monuments Men like Harry Ettlinger, Kenneth Lindsay, Charles Parkhurst and Bernard Taper, we better understand the overwhelming mission these folks were on, and how even today, some battles wage on over the rightful owners of artwork.To drive home the point that there is more at stake than just pride, the case of Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" is studied. Adele's niece continued her litigation against Austria until a court finally awarded her the painting (and 3 others). She sold "Adele" for $135 million to a collector. So clearly the cause is not just for mother country. Economics play a huge role. Regardless, the more interesting portion of the story is the relentless pursuit of stolen artwork, artifacts, furniture and collectibles, and the attempts to return them to the rightful owners. That, combined with the devastating architecture destruction brought on by WWII, really make it a bittersweet story.The breathtaking photographs and archival film footage provide a clear understanding of the breadth of destruction. Seeing the before and after of the Monte Cassino monastery is just crushing. Gaining perspective on the damaged frescoes, some dating to 1360, when Pisa's Camposanto was bombed drives home the significance of culture and history. Seeing the aftermath of the bombing of Florence's iconic bridges brings tears to the eyes. The most impressive piece is that so much of Europe has been rebuilt in the past 7 decades. Maybe that goes to answer the question of whether a human life is worth protecting art. People survive and find a way ... even if Rafael's "Portrait of a Young Man" is still missing.This is based on the book by the Lynn Nicholas, and the film does a terrific job of presenting how the war impacted Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Austria and Poland. It's also tough to reconcile, as one of the Monuments Men attempts, the idea that the Nazis were so careful with the stolen artwork while simultaneously exterminating so many Jewish people. Maybe things would have been different if a young Adolph Hitler had been accepted to art school.

Loosely centered on the well-known theft, from public and private collections, of great artworks and cultural artifacts by the Nazis, the Soviets, and common criminals during World War II and their removal in part to secret storage locations in Germany, Austria, and Russia, this documentary also touches on halting Allied war efforts to avoid the destruction of national heritage sites in Italy, still on-going restoration efforts after the war, issues of cultural patrimony (e.g., "Who owns, or should own, this stuff? The world? The nations from which it was plundered? The nations which suffered during wartime, won the war, and now claim it as restitution? Innocent purchasers for value? Religious communities? Descendents of long-dead wealthy collectors and benefactors who left it in place when they evacuated their homes?"), and the tens of thousands of artworks still unaccounted for. Hitler and Goering were collectors as well as thieves. Is it possible that the act of collecting is itself not totally above suspicion? Any of these minor themes, and others, would have made for an interesting documentary in itself. As it is, the documentary we see will please most history buffs and art fans. The historical footage is excellent -- Hitler was always Hitler, but pompous Goering surrendering his handgun momentarily showed fear -- the contemporary interviews of wartime survivors and art historians add flavor and insight, and the images of lost and found artworks are alternately chilling and thrilling. This film is accessible to an audience that may barely recognize the names da Vinci and Matisse. It tells something of the same story as "The Train" (1964) without the same level of fictional excitement.

This is another fascinating look at the devastation of everything that happened during WWII. This is a little known fact about the systematic way the Nazis stole everything & didn't think about any of the actual consequences of their own greed. I am the 1st to admit that I really know nothing about art and can't "Get it." I cannot understand the Van Gogh's or the Renoir's as much as I'd like to. I understand and like history & that is what I understand and appreciate just like movies & know a interesting story despite the topic if it is presented well. Just like understanding math, Art is in the same league, you either understand it/and or can do it, or you can't. It's not something you can really teach, just ask the failed artist Hitler. Just as this film suggests what if he had gotten into the art school? Would he have been the monster he became? Very doubtful & it explains his love/hate relationship w/the subject. Even if you can't understand why a painting sells for 5 million or 100 million (like I can't) this is still an interesting study.

This was a real historical awakening. I didn't realize that the plundering of Europe was not only premeditated but also very systematic by the Nazi regime. The interviews were excellent but I would have enjoyed more. The archival footage from both the allies and axis powers was detailed and intimate which included color as well as b&w. I was near tears to think of the great loss of centuries of historical buildings, valuables, art and other treasures due to the one idiot. I couldn't help to think what if this was the USA. How horrible the people of Europe must have felt during and after the war. I had never heard of the French patriot Rose Valland before and she truly was a French hero.