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| Movie Review: The Rape of Europa Alternate Title: Portrait of the Nazis as Murderous
Plunderers
Story: We are all familiar with
the horrors of the Nazis as depicted in many a fine film. This fascinating
documentary covers a less known area that should be of interest to every
lover of art and culture. The film opens and closes with the portrait
of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt
and the long battle to return the painting to its rightful owner. The Nazis methodical thieving and plundering
of not only art from Jewish households, but art from major museums throughout
Europe is thoroughly documented in this exhaustive film. Hitler's attempt
to purge and purify Europe stretched from annihilation of human beings
to the destruction of what he referred to as degenerate art, including
most Impressionist, Cubist and Modernist works. New file footage is seen as to how major museums
such as the Louvre and the Hermitage hid their vast collections form
the Nazis and would be a good film unto itself. We also are introduced
to the Monuments Men, a group of dedicated US soldiers, who after the
War, endured the arduous task of finding these stolen treasures and
making attempts to return them to their rightful owners. The film was written, produced, and directed
by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham
and based on Lynn H. Nicholas' book. Her book won the
National Book Critics Circle Award. The film's web site gives you much
more information and photos: http://therapeofeuropa.com/ Acting: Some very passionate talking heads who were
directly involved in the search and recovery of these masterpieces.
Lynn Nichols, the author of the book, appears as one
of the talking heads and does the niece of Adele
Bloch-Bauer. Predilection: I love art and art does matters.
Critters: A cat seen in the basement of the Hermitage
Food: No food to be seen except in a few still life
paintings.
Sex Spectrum: There is no sex - but there is nudity
in art.
Visual Art: A breathtaking number of works of art
that luckily still exist today.
Theater Audience: A handful of art lovers like myself.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: The Nazis make me squirm
Drift Factor: I drifted towards the end. The film
needed some editing and a little more focus on the main idea.
Predictability Level: Having seen the portrait of
Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt at its new home in the Neue Gallery,
that mystery was already solved for me.
Tissue Usage: I welled up at times.
Oscar Worthy: Why not? It is an important subject.
Soap Box: When the US troops did not protect the
museums in Baghdad from looters, after our initial attack five years
ago, I was horrified and ashamed of our behavior and barbarism. A civilization's
culture is what survives and will be remembered for generations to come.
Nit Picking: Needed editing.
Big Screen or Rental: Support films like this and
go to the big screen.
Length: Two hours.
LOBO HOWLS: 7
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