The Last Vermeer

The Last Vermeer

A niche art house movie set in Holland immediately after the last war. It was a slow burn of cat and mouse but the central performances and tight script was really quite mesmerising.

Overall this was brilliantly done, the sets were sumptuous and attention to detail was truly astounding, clearly no expense was spared.

Clearly the subject matter will not appeal to everyone, "nerdsville" for forgers lol, but hey I watched it and it held my attention. This is a perfect example of how the 40's need to be portrayed, BBC take note!

I'm going to give this a hard 7, the whole movie rested on Guy Pearce and this much undervalued actor never fails to deliver, a masterclass in characterisation and micro-gestures, and quite a glorious relief from exhausting method style.

Most of the main characters were real people and much of the story line is authentic, however a number of things were changed for movie-making reasons.

It is 1945 and teams of allies are looking for artwork stolen by the Germans, with the goal of returning them to their rightful owners. The hunt leads them to Dutch painter, Guy Pearce as Han Van Meegeren, who it seems might have been a Nazi sympathizer. His name came up in the trail for one of the paintings which might have been the last Vermeer from the 1600s.

Pearce s really good in his role, as are the other actors. The story moves along deliberately most of the time but that is good, it is a good story to tell.

I watched it at home on DVD from my public library, my wife skipped.

Interesting and intriguing story of post ww2 society in Holland .

Great acting but Pearce and others . Directed and beautifully filmed .

If you like historical dramas I would recommend this movie .

Interesting film based on a true story, but thought Claes Bang was robotic and miscast in the lead role

Acting wise the under rated Vicky Krieps was good again.

"The Last Vermeer" paints an intelligent, intriguing picture of World War II involving art, Nazis and an unlikely Dutch hero. Dan Friedkin's directorial debut manages to deliver a thriller while offering instruction on the art of Johannes Vermeer. Guy Pearce stars and gives a work of art performance as the flamboyant Han van Meegeren, a Dutch painter, art dealer and enigma who became famous for selling a rare Vermeer to Hitler's second in command, Hermann Göring. This act led Meegeren to be tried in 1945 as a war criminal. Captain Joseph Piller, played by actor Claes Bang, is the former Dutch Resistance officer who believes Meegeren's innocence, helping and defending him in court. The screenplay, written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (writers of 2007's "First Snow," also starring Guy Pearce) & John Orloff, is based on an adaptation of Jonathan Lopez's, "The Man Who Made Vermeers."