Woman in Gold 2015

     During WWII the Nazis went into Jewish homes and apartments to loot them of valuables.  It didn’t matter to the Germans that the people were still living there at the time.  Art pieces, jewelry, musical instruments and anything else of value were taken.  Maria Altman is encouraged by her friend’s attorney son Randy Schoenberg to try to get the valuable Mona Lisa of Austria returned to her.  It is a painting of her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt.  It has been sixty years since Maria and her husband barely escaped from Vienna.  There is a lot of opposition from Austria and the Belvedere Museum.  The Museum believes they have a right to the painting because they have it now in their gallery. 

     I didn’t know what this movie was about before I started to watch.  This has a similar theme to The Monuments Men but much more personalized.  Helen Mirren makes Maria come alive on the screen including her Austrian accent.  She also looks different with her dark hair.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

109 min, Drama directed by Simon Curtis with Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons, Charles Dance, Antje Traue, Elizabeth McGovern, Johnathan Pryce.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 54% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 3286 reviews.

Special Note:  Tatiana Maslany plays the role of Maria Altmann as a young woman.  She stars as the multiple clones on the series Orphan Black.  This movie was filmed in West Sussex and West Kensington England UK, Vienna Austria, Encino, Culver City, San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills, California.