3.5 stars. Rated PG-13, for dramatic intensity and fleeting profanity
By Derrick Bang
Director Simon Curtis’ absorbing,
ripped-from-the-headlines drama could be considered the All the President’s Men of the art world.
 |
| During a visit to Austria, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) and her young friend and colleague, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), make a point of visiting Vienna's Belvedere Gallery, where the painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer has been displayed since just after World War II. The question is whether it deserves to remain there... |
Much the way that 1976 classic
made journalistic investigation so fascinating, scripter Alexi Kaye Campbell
breathes intrigue and tension into what — in the real world — unfolded as an
extended, research-heavy, David vs. Goliath courtroom battle. Campbell has the
advantage of the considerable tension surrounding the saga’s Holocaust origins;
the result, while sometimes sliding into clichéd melodrama, builds to a
suspenseful finale.
On one side of the dispute:
octogenarian Jewish refugee Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) and her callow, almost
laughably inexperienced attorney, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds).
On the other side: the entire
country of Austria, personified by condescending museum owners and Ministry of
Culture officials.
The situation at issue: actual
ownership of five paintings by Austrian master Gustav Klimt, most notably his
legendary Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,
a work iconic enough to be recognized even by people who know nothing about
art.
As it happens, Adele Bloch-Bauer
was Maria Altmann’s aunt ... and therein lies the tale.
Curtis and Campbell divide their
narrative between the late 1930s, leading up to and immediately following
Hitler’s annexation of Austria; and the late 1990s, beginning with a stack of
letters found by Maria, in the twilight of her comfortable years in California,
following the death of her beloved sister. The letters’ contents raise
intriguing questions, prompting Maria to seek advice from Randy, a budding
attorney and the grandson of a family friend.
Randy initially wants nothing to
do with what he perceives is a ludicrous, hopeless case; he’s much too busy
trying to fit in at the prestigious legal firm where he has just been hired by
the authoritative senior partner (Charles Dance, in a brief but suitably
intimidating role). But Maria, imperious in her own right, plays the “Jewish
heritage” card ... and, before he quite realizes what has happened, Randy is
hooked.
An exploratory visit to Austria
hardens his interest, after he and Maria are rebuffed by the aforementioned
cultural officials. Despite the restitution law passed by Austria’s Green Party
in 1998, they discover — with the assistance of Austrian investigative
journalist Hubertus Czernin (Daniel Brühl) — that this supposed display of
“justice” is little more than a PR ploy, which the country’s nationalists have
no intention of applying to any truly revered artworks.
And nothing is more revered than
Klimt’s masterpiece, regarded, as Czernin explains, as “Austria’s Mona Lisa.”
