Tonight I finally took the time to sit down and watch Woman in Gold. I had been meaning to see this film since it was in movie theaters, but as occasionally happens with films, I just never got around to it. After a few months it slipped out of my immediate consciousness and my intentions were filed into the dustier parts of my brain. I may never have remembered to follow up on watching Woman in Gold if I hadn't watched the trailer on the DVD of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel a month ago and added it to my Netflix queue.
Courtroom dramas, Nazi dramas, and art history dramas are not genres I usually go in for. Give me a solid crime thriller (The Lincoln Lawyer, Primal Fear), a WWII action (Inglourious Basterds, Saving Private Ryan), or a archaeological adventure (Sahara, National Treasure) and I am so in. The slower pace of a movie like Woman in Gold doesn't always hold the same draw for me. However, I will watch almost anything if it's got Helen Mirren in it, so Woman in Gold piqued my interest.
The story is based on the real lives of Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) and Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), jumping between pre-World War Two Austria and the late nineties. In the pre-WWII scenes we see Maria (and her friends and family) struggle to navigate the hostile socio-political climate for Jews like herself in Austria which ultimately leads to her harrowing escape to America. In the nineties scenes Maria is an old woman who has enlisted Randol to help her get back a painting of her aunt done by Gustav Klimt that was stolen by Nazis. The painting, referred to as The Woman in Gold, is hanging in the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna, Austria. Maria and Randol visit Vienna after hearing about an art restitution program that is happening in Austria. Given Klimt's notoriety as an Austrian artist, the Austrian government denies Maria's restitution. Randol and Maria return to the US and formulate a legal case against the government of Austria that makes it all the way into the Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court rules that Maria is able to create a lawsuit against the Austrian government. When the government of Austria tries to negotiate with Maria and Randol, Randol agrees to arbitration. Back in Vienna the arbitrators side with Maria Altmann and she is awarded an array of paintings including The Woman in Gold.
This movie is really a story of recognition. Maria Altman wants the Austrian government to recognize that they acquired these paintings illegally, that her family and herself suffered at the hands of Nazis, and that their personal history was erased for the sake of national pride. Although the story is especially dramatic--it involving a US Supreme Court case, Gustav Klimt, and it ends with success-- instances like these are unfortunately common. The Nazis were prolific in their plundering of cultural, artistic, and literary artifacts. The end of the movie reminds the audience of this, asking for recognition for the families whose heritage was never returned to them.
Helen Mirren's performance is blessedly beautiful. Again, I should say that I could watch Helen Mirren say the alphabet backwards and I would consider it a standout delivery. Ryan Reynolds also gives a somewhat surprisingly good performance. I say somewhat surprisingly good performance because I can never nail this guy down. He's been in about every genre of movie conceivable and within those genres he's been in both absolutely atrocious and absolutely awesome movies. Occasionally I get my hopes up and am disappointed by him, but sometimes I underestimate him, like today, and am pleasantly surprised.
Overall, it is a nice movie, a pleasant movie. It doesn't have too much of anything in it. Not too dramatic, not too funny, not too much action. It's an easily digestible film. It gives your brain a little bit to think about, but not too much, and it is properly heart-warming without being tearful.
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