La dama de oro

Greetings again from the darkness. The responsibility of the filmmaker when the project is "based on a true story" is elevated when the story has significant historical relevance and blends such elements as art, identity, justice and international law. Add to those the quest of a remarkable woman whose family was ripped apart by Nazi insurgents, and more than a history lesson, it becomes a poignant personal story.

Helen Mirren portrays Maria Altmann, the woman who emigrated to the United States by fleeing her Austrian homeland during World War II, and leaving behind her beloved family and all possessions. After the death of her sister, Ms. Altmann becomes aware of the family artwork stolen by the Nazi's during the invasion. This is not just any artwork, but multiple pieces from famed Austrian artist Gustav Klimt … including "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer". See, Adele was Maria's aunt, and the stunning piece (with gold leaf accents) has become "the Mona Lisa of Austria", while hanging for decades in the state gallery.

The story revolves around Maria's partnering with family friend and upstart attorney Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) to take on the nation of Austria and reclaim the (extremely valuable) artwork that was seized illegally so many years ago. They are aided in their mission by an Austrian journalist (played by Daniel Bruhl) who is fighting his own demons. The seven-plus year legal saga is condensed for the big screen and we follow Maria and Randol as they meet with the Austrian art reclamation committee, a federal judge (played by the director's wife Elizabeth McGovern), the U.S. Supreme Court (Jonathan Pryce as Chief Justice), and finally a mediation committee back in Austria. But this is not really a courtroom drama … it's a personal quest for justice and search for identity. What role does family roots and history play in determining who we are today? It's the age old question of past vs. present, only this is seen through the eyes of a woman who has survived what most of us can only imagine.

Director Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) uses startling flashbacks (with Tatiana Maslany as the younger Maria) to provide glimpses of Maria's childhood through her marriage and subsequent escape. We get to know her family, including some scenes featuring Aunt Adele (Antje Traue), and Maria's father and uncle (Henry Goodman, Allan Corduner). We understand this family's place in society and just how dramatically they were impacted by the Nazi takeover.

Helen Mirren delivers yet another exceptional performance and manages to pull off the snappy lines without an ounce of schmaltz, while also capturing the emotional turmoil Ms. Altmann endures. Director Curtis and writer Alexi Kaye Campbell round off some of the rough edges and inject enough humor to prevent this from being the gut-wrenching process it probably was in real life. This approach makes the film, the story and the characters more relatable for most movie goers … and it's quite an enjoyable look at a fascinating woman and a pretty remarkable underdog story.

"Mrs. Altmann, it would seem that if your case goes forward, world diplomacy will collapse, and you will be solely responsible."

"Woman in Gold" is a wonderful and sometimes touching film. Not because of the topic as this was already highlighted in "The Monuments Men", but because of the brilliant rendition Helen Mirren is showing here. A role that suits her perfectly. A distinguished elderly lady who's a descendant of a wealthy Jewish family and who was forced to flee to the United States during Austria's annexation with Germany. She left behind everything: family, personal things and valuable belongings that were owned by the family Altmann. The resentment towards the German ruler obviously is still as lively now as it was in the past. And despite her intention never to set foot on Austrian soil again, she still makes the overseas trip to reclaim the famous painting "Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer" by Gustav Klimt, since she's the rightful heir. That this invaluable piece of art was worth a fortune, is swept aside by her as irrelevant. In the end the painting has been sold to a renowned New York art gallery for a mere 135 million dollars. I'm sure at that moment it wasn't irrelevant anymore.

The film is actually twofold. Obviously there's a less successful part and an exciting second part. The first part, and least successful, is about the court case Maria Altmann starts against the Austrian state, who consider the previous mentioned painting as a national treasure. The fact that it was stolen by the Nazis and actually ended up in their hands unlawfully, was a side issue apparently. So the first thing we are presented with, is an old fashioned courtroom drama with Ryan Reynolds as the young lawyer Randol Schönberg, grandson of the famous Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg and also descendant of a family of war refugees.

The fascinating and interesting part of the film focuses on the past and present of the widow Altmann. A metered mixture of images of this zestful character these days and the painful memories weighing on her shoulders. These memories are displayed in old-fashioned-looking sepia-colored flashbacks. A sketch full of contrasts of the still traumatized Maria and the conditions in which she lived during the occupation. The humiliations and fear. When she gets back in Vienna after so many years, Mary's facial expression proves that this past still weighs heavily on her.

Helen Mirren is a kind of mixture of P. L. Travers and Queen Elizabeth. A lady behaving according to the etiquette from the upper middle class who keeps certain values and norms still alive. A stiff Victorian granny who suffers from a trauma and is seeking for justice. A kind of Miss Marple, but then still in possession of an elegant well-preserved beauty. Without any effort Mirren surpasses the young Reynold on screen. Despite his immense importance in the complex legal procedure, the character pales in comparison with the engaging, witty and sometimes tragic person performed by Mirren. Despite the fact that now and then she brings forward corny sounding quotes, she remains a credible and worthy character.

Of course you can cite that the Austrian people are portrayed in a one-sided and caricatural way and look like an anti-Semitic nation that supports the Nazi-regime. Personally, I'm convinced that it's pretty close to being true and that it's more an instinctual survival tactic than that they were supporting that ideology. But that's another discussion. Maybe the relationship between Maria Altmann and her aunt Adèle could have been worked out a bit deeper. But the acting of Mirren and the tragic images of the past create an unparalleled film filled with tragedy and justice.

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Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds star in "Woman in Gold" from 2015, a true story about the quest of Maria Altmann to recover art stolen from her family by the Nazis in Vienna, the seat of anti-Semitism in Europe.

I just want to point out, to answer some of the reviews, that this is not a documentary, it's a movie. Movies combine events, change them around, omit them. No one wants to watch a tedious film that recognizes that it took a huge amount of time to get to the Supreme Court. If you want the actual, factual story of Maria Altmann's journey, you will need to read about it or see one of several documentaries. Films are meant to pique our interest.

Altmann speaks with a young attorney, Randy Shoenberg, about recovering The Woman in Gold, a painting by Klimt that is considered a symbol of Vienna. Klimt in fact painted a series of stunning portraits of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, who died of meningitis at the age of 44.

In her will, she asked her husband Ferdinand, who had seen the writing on the wall in Vienna and fled to Prague, to donate the paintings to the Austrian State Gallery.

Although he has just started a new job, Shoenberg travels to Vienna to see the will. Along the way there are flashbacks of Vienna in the '30s, where the Bloch-Bauer family lived in opulence. When the Nazis came to their home, they stripped the place of everything valuable - and there was a lot -- and put the family under house arrest.

Maria and her husband, an opera singer, manage to escape in a harrowing scene. In flashbacks, Maria is played by the remarkable Tatiana Maslany, the star of "Orphan Black," who looks incredibly like a brunette Mirren.

This is a touching, beautifully told story of one man's sacrifice and determination and a woman facing up to her past in order to seek justice.

Helen Mirren is one of my favorite actresses - here, she is a vibrant, energetic octogenarian who finds the struggle for the painting uncomfortable - several times, meeting a roadblock, she is ready to wash her hands of it, but Schoenberg won't let her. It represents her family to her, and some uncomfortable memories. You can see all of that in Mirren's multilayered performance.

Reynolds is excellent as a young man who believes in taking a chance - - he started and failed in his own law practice - and in this case, going for the gold, despite the fact that he has a wife (Katie Holmes), a baby, and one on the way, and an intolerant boss. It doesn't faze him and when Maria wants to quit, he is furious.

I disagree that there was no connection between them. In fact, there is a deep one. The quest for the painting comes to represent to him what it means to Maria

I highly recommend this film. There are tons of movies about the horrors perpetrated on Jews by the Nazis. The recovery of stolen art is one part of that horror. "You see a painting," she tells a group. "I see my aunt."

The Woman in Gold is based on the true story about a woman, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), and her lawyer, Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), as they attempt to reclaim ownership of an extremely valuable painting (along with a few more) form the Austrian government nearly fifty years after it was stolen by the Nazis. This film has three distinct parts that intertwine through the duration of the show. First, there is a family dynamic that focuses on the emotional stress of the current situation on everyone's personal lives. There is a strong connection between Randol and Maria that grows over time and is given time to grow in these segments. Second, there are flashbacks that dive deeper into Maria's past and emphasize the importance of the artwork as well as explore parallels between the past and the present. Finally there is the trial itself, which is where the action of the conflict lies. This is the least important, yet still necessary part of the story. The percentage of time given to these segments would be around 40/40/20, respectively. While you might be surprised how much of the story takes place in the past, it really does drive the plot. There are many white-knuckle scenes and heart wrenching moments that really add to the film. The past is just as important as the present in this movie, and that is exactly what the film is trying to say. Helen Mirren, as always, was amazing in this film. She was subtle and drove many of the scenes that required raw emotion. Ryan Reynolds was also very good and his role in this film might have been his best performance (from what I have seen). Actually, all of the actors did a fantastic job here. Everyone was on there A-Game and gave it everything they had. There was great chemistry between Mirren and Reynolds which made their characters' connection even more compelling. Reynolds was able to subtly change his character as the case slowly changed his motivations. While, yes, there are a few clichéd scenes that were put in there for emotional levity and drama, but they don't really take much away, if anything. This was an excellent film and I highly recommend it.

'Woman in Gold' makes for a dazzling movie experience (even if at times it may leave you questioning it's authenticity). Having not been an admirer of Mirren's early screen work - she seems to have become better with age (well, for me anyway), I was taken with her portrayal of Maria Altman from start to finish (as also in 'The Queen'). Ryan Reynolds gives good support as the young Lawyer taking on a case above his station. Reynolds, whose style is somewhat reminiscent of a young Kevin Costner, plays the Randol Schoenberg part with conviction.

London born director Simon Curtis gives the proceedings an easy to watch style and with the help of documentary editor Peter Lambert, they keep the viewer engaged throughout. Curtis also gets to direct his American wife (in a guest style role) Elizabeth McGovern, who has since made England her home. First time feature screenplay writer Alexi Kaye Campbell has fashioned an interesting interpretation of the writings of Altman and Schoeenberg's own life experiences, looking back at yet another of humanity's all time low past atrocities - although as mentioned, for some, certain sections of the screenplay may not always ring true (?)

Cinematographer Ross Emery (Matrix) gets a chance to prove he's also good without the help of tons of big budget CGI. It's hard to tell who did what with the music score, credited to both Martin Phipps and Hans Zimmer but, it's pleasing in an unobtrusive manor. Design Guru's, Andrew Ackland-Snow and brothers Dominic and Giles Masters (Harry Potter) with the help of others, ensure it looks good - perhaps while also getting a chance to strut their stuff without being drenched in CGI.

As a minor point, some location settings in Austria seemed a little too devoid of people to give an accurate representation, still, it's an amazing human story, both informative and entertaining. It should please most sophisticated audiences, while letting us reflect on an episode from our dark past.