Woman In Gold, Movie Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Woman in Gold, the new movie by Simon Curtis, seems to pick up right where Monuments Men left off.  Where in the later film we see pieces of art stolen by the Nazis and then rescued by a select group of WWII service men, in Woman in Gold we see Maria Altmann, played with spunk by Helen Mirren, trying to reclaim precious art stolen from her family in Austria decades after WWII.  The art in question is that of the masterful Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).

Klimt's close friend and patron, Adele Bloch-Bauer, is the only woman Klimt painted twice.  Adele Bloch-Bauer is also Maria's aunt.  The least known of these paintings is entitled Adele Block-Bauer II, in which Adele stands in full color, covered in modern Edwardian beauty.  Statuesque and strong.  But it is Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, aka Woman in Gold, that is the true masterpiece, and what the Austrians consider their Mona Lisa.  It is also this portrait, looted by the Nazis, that Maria Altmann wants returned to her family.

When it is discovered that the museum displaying Adele Bloch-Bauer I does not hold a legal claim to the piece, Maria Altmann enlists the help of Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), Grandson of composer and creator of the twelve-tone technique Arnold Schoenberg (I have a few choice words towards the twelve-tone row and atonality thanks to my music degree, but such lamentations shall not be written here  . . . and don't get me started on Pierrot Lunaire), to work as an attorney to reclaim her families treasures.

The movie Woman in Gold serves as a bridge between the past and present. Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black fame plays a wonderful Young Maria Altmann.  In the present we see Maria come to terms with the past through a myriad of court battles, a trip to Austria, and so forth.  In the past we see the opulent wealth and culture of her family, and then the horrors of the War and how the Jews were treated.  Watching Austrians literally go out of their way to turn in the Jews was chilling.  It's a sad reminder of the horrors of WWII and the inhuman practices of the Nazis and their followers.

It is this going back and forth between past and present that quickly brought to mind Saving Mr. Banks, the behind the scenes Disney movie about Mary Poppins.  Even the movie poster is similar.

 
Where Saving Mr. Banks is a more polished, tightly woven story, Woman in Gold tugged more at my heartstrings.  When the movie ended my Mom turned to me, tears down her face, exclaiming that I better give this movie a 5.  My brother Steven, who has a passion for art, also agreed that Woman in Gold is a 5 out of 5, and that it's better then Saving Mr. Banks.

And thus my struggle for writing this review was born.  I haven't even told them yet that I've decided to give this movie a 4!  A part of the problem for me lies in the technical: A couple rough scene transitions and plot pacing, a melodic motive in the musical score that felt unoriginal and borrowed.  The more I study the history of the story, the more I see missed opportunities.

The battle Maria underwent to acquire the Klimt paintings took 8 years.  That's a lot of information to narrow down into a nearly two hour movie.  And maybe that's where some of the plot suffers.  The court cases feel rushed and simply too easy is some ways, amongst other pacing problems.  From Movie Mom Nell Minow: "[Randol Schoenberg] didn’t let his wife go to the hospital to deliver their baby alone while he went to argue the case at the Supreme Court, but he did get a call from her when he was in Washington and about to appear before the Court, telling him she had gone into early labor. Fortunately, she did not have the baby until later. But that may be part of the reason that he really did get so nervous at the Supreme Court that he told the Chief Justice he did not understand his question."  little truer-to-life plot changes like this would have accounted for a far more interesting movie.

Many aspects of this movie is absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching.  And I found myself in anticipation of whether or not justice would be done.  Overall an important movie, and one worth seeing.  

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language.

Arnold Schoenberg really was the bane of my music education experience.