The Monuments Men (2014) is based on the book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter, and is directed by George Clooney (who, of course, also heads the star-studded cast). It centers on a group of art historians, conservationists, archeologists, and other civilian academics working for the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA) of the Allied forces during World War II, which was tasked with finding and returning works of art stolen during the Nazi occupation. Of course, there are major liberties taken in the process of telling a concise story, as this Slate article laid out shortly after the film debuted. That said, it’s an entertaining piece of historical fiction that gets the idea across without getting bogged down in the complexities of reality.
As a war flick the costuming is naturally mostly focused on military uniforms, but costume designer Louise Frogley at least had Cate Blanchett upon which to pile all the interesting clothing. Good thing, too, otherwise there wouldn’t be a lot to talk about here in this excellent film. Frogley recalls that the reality of costuming a film set in a relatively recent era wasn’t exactly simple or straight forward:
“Many of the original uniforms have been sold, destroyed or are in bad condition. This stuff doesn’t last long if it’s not looked after. There’s original stuff still in existence, but the sizes are almost always too small. We had some [original] Nazi jackets, but in sizes like 36-chest — and no trousers.”
As the lone female in the cast, Cate Blanchett plays Claire Simone, whose character was based on curator Rose Valland, a Frenchwoman who worked for Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris during the Nazi occupation and whose intel was central to the Allied forces recovering stolen artworks. Naturally, she’s got the most interesting and varied costumes in the film, despite the fact that she is hardly in it.
All in all, The Monuments Men is a decent flick with competent costuming for an era that we routinely pass on covering simply because there’s not a whole lot to talk about aside from uniforms. I think it was undeservedly panned when it came out, as critics seemed to be primed to roll their eyes at the entire concept of saving art during a war — something the film addresses directly at the end, when one character interrogates Clooney’s character over whether or not it was worth risking lives to rescue art from the evil clutches of the Nazis. But I liked it, so vive la différence.
Did you see The Monuments Men (2014)? Tell us your thoughts about it in the comments!
It sounds like an interesting concept, but tbh it’s hard for me to get excited about a movie with almost no women in it. I know it was probably historically accurate! But just not my cup of tea.
Whoa there. I do not think this movie was meanly critically paned bc. of the eye-roll inducing idea of saving art during war – a truly dumb and indeed dangerous notion which I did not see a plural of proficient critics dared utter ‘out loud’. It was paned precisely because of its undecided, overly simplistic and clichéd approach to such an important and pretty current, if completely underthought and underdiscussed topic. ‘Soapboxing, I believe was the exact and exacting term I’ve seen used. I mean, why go about the effort of actualizing such a script in the first place? Might as well start marketing a rerun (a remake, even?) of “The Train”. That was more fun. Even in b&w…
I really enjoyed it – but then I’m one of those people with niche historical interests and all the art that was seized/disappeared just before and during WWII is an interest of mine so if someone makes a movie or show about it (The Monuments Men, The Rape of Europa, The Woman In Gold) I’m probably going to watch it.
I really enjoyed this movie. Is it a cinematic masterpiece? Eeehhhh. But it is an enjoyable movie with a great cast telling a story I didn’t previously know about and it made me go out and research the real events. Also art. I love art. More art in movies please.
I believe Rose Valland also is the inspiration for the character in “The Train” who contacts the French Underground for help saving the paintings from the Jeu du Paume from being sent to Germany? That’s a really exciting movie (if not accurate).
On original uniforms, there are LOADS of quality repros and enough originals for a good costume house to make repros. That’s what the reenactment suppliers do. In fact, there are whole supply houses that cater to military flicks and have wardrobes of accurate costumes for all shapes and sizes along with originals.
Claire/Rose deserves a movie of her own; she was a very gutsy woman, playing dull-little-female-bureaucrat to the hilt so as to convince the German occupiers she knew nothing of their plans to loot French museums and art collections. But I didn’t know “critics seemed to be primed to roll their eyes at the entire concept of saving art during a war.” That’s shocking; what’s the point of fighting a war if not to defend your people’s liberty and culture?
Yes, I did see the movie and I enjoyed it. I remember wanting to see it in the theater but missing it there. It had a top-notch cast and it was interesting to me. Another person mentioned The Woman in Gold, which I also enjoyed. Never heard of The Train, but now I have to see that one as well, along with The Last Vemeer which, according to the trailer, seems to examine this topic a little more seriously than The Monuments Men. I’m down for more movies like this and if Cate Blanchett is in all of them, I’m down for that, too!
We saw this in the theater and I loved it. I’d never heard of the movement to save art (or buildings) and I researched it all on my own after seeing the movie. It fascinated me, first time “spoils of the war belong to the victors” was thwarted by the victors themselves. It surprises and saddens me to see what was said about saving art both by the critics and by an above comment. One of the things I’ve always thought about is how much history, how much architecture and art and such is destroyed by bombing and looting during war. I cried when ISIS blew up the Arch of Triumph.
I enjoyed the movie, but I bought and read the book first. the book was and is always better. more detail, less pandering to the public. as a history major I’d seen the Train and thought it was very good. I was shocked Burt Lancaster could pull off something like that. but he was good.