The Monuments Men (2014)

“The thought came back to him, as it often did: To save the culture of your allies is a small thing. To cherish the culture of your enemy, to risk your life and the life of other men to save it, to give it all back to them as soon as the battle was won … it was unheard of, but that was exactly what Walker Hancock and the other Monuments Men intended to do.”

― Robert M. Edsel, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

Dad and I have Father-Daughter movie (+ lunch or merienda or dinner) dates once in a while and I think this was one of the best movies we ever watched together.

I know that a lot of critics have lambasted this film, but I must say that most of the critics like it.

They noted the flaws, but in toto, it made us believe that we were watching every scene like we were actually there.

My favorite ones were that of Donald Jeffries(Hugh Bonneville) writing a letter to his father about Michelangelo's The Bruges Madonna and Child, and that of Claire Simone(Cate Blanchett) and James Granger(Matt Damon).

I like James Granger's loyalty to his family especially to his wife. Even if miles separated them and an honorable tryst(if there's such a thing) could happen because it's Paris, he chose to do the right and decent thing.

It was also great to see places that I'm familiar with(some places were preserved and still look the same until now) and to learn about how art was preserve.

“The U.S. Army might not care about art, but they sure as sh*t care about gold!” -

Patton, Bradley et al were praised for saving the gold, but these unsung heroes did so much for us, the people of the present, and the children, our future.

I know some kids and teenagers yawn when they visit museums and galleries, not knowing how hard our forefathers fought for the preservation of art and all.

People say this movie dragged, but hey. Isn't that what most of you say about art and museums?

This is a beautiful movie and the way it was executed was just right.

Then again, that's just my opinion! ;-)

Granger and Simone are "dressed accordingly" while studying the files

The Monuments Men is a 2014 American-German war film directed by George Clooney, written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov, and starring Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett. Based on the true-story book, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, by Robert M. Edsel, the film follows an allied group tasked with finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items before their destruction by Hitler during World War II.

The film, co-produced by Columbia Pictures (in association with 20th Century Fox) and Babelsberg Studio, was released on February 7, 2014.

Story

The film, based on a true story, focuses on an Allied squad comprising seven museum directors, curators, and art historians. They are tasked with entering Germany with the Allied forces during the closing stages of World War II to rescue artworks plundered by the Nazis, saving them from destruction or damage, and returning them to their rightful owners.

As the story begins, the Nazis are shown looting the treasures of Europe; scenes show the Nazis looting galleries and museums throughout France. The art is loaded onto truck convoys and entire trains, then secretly transported to mining towns in Germany, where they would be hidden in secure underground mines. The Germans discuss and prepare to eventually use the art for Hitler’s planned Führermuseum in Linz, or, if discovered, to destroy all the art.

In explaining the dangerous mission to his men, Stokes (Clooney) says to his Monuments Men, "We’re fighting for our culture and our way of life. If you destroy your enemy’s achievements, it’s as if they never existed. That’s what Hitler wants."- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Destiny is not one push, she thought as she waited to cross a quiet street on that cold Paris evening years later, but a thousand small moments that through insight and hard work you line up in the right direction, like the magnet does the metal shavings.”

― Robert M. Edsel, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

George Clooney as Lt. Frank Stokes
Matt Damon as Lt. James Granger
Bill Murray as Sgt. Richard Campbell
John Goodman as Sgt. Walter Garfield
Jean Dujardin as Lt. Jean Claude Clermont
Bob Balaban as Pvt. Preston Savitz
Hugh Bonneville as Lt. Donald Jeffries
Cate Blanchett as Claire Simone
Sam Hazeldine as Colonel Langton
Dimitri Leonidas as Sam Epstein

Directed by	George Clooney
Produced by	George Clooney Grant Heslov
Screenplay by	George Clooney Grant Heslov
Based on	The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel