Portrait of Wally

"Portrait of Wally" tells the story of the attempts to recover a painting stolen from a Jewish collector by the Nazis during WWII. The saga winds its way though a very wealthy collector and through MoMA. Like most such stories that have emerged in recent decades it's interesting.

Unfortunately at about the 30 minute mark it may start to grind on your nerves. Endless little sound bites from talking heads, some Austrian some American, become almost like watching a video ransom note, each mouthing a little bit of opinion on the moment's topic. In the end the painting was just not a big enough deal to me to hold my interest. I just wanted someone to call it and I didn't care who. Unlike other similar stories I was left with an aftertaste that greed rather than justice really was driving the recovery.

At the very least this 90 minute doc should certainly have been cut down to 45-60 mins., tops.

This is an important documentary. One one level, it's about one Nazi's theft of "Portrait of Wally," a painting by Egon Schiele, from a Jewish household in Austria just before World War II, and a decades-long fight by the tenacious Lea Bonni, the painting's owner, and her family, for justice. But more important, perhaps, it's about how revered institutions, e.g., the Museum of Modern Art and NPR (yes, National Public Radio) fought against efforts to restore the painting to its rightful owner. Even in an age of skepticism, such as ours, this film is jaw-dropping when it comes to outing some of the "bad guys." The filmmakers did their homework—they have the documents, the interviews. The list of thank you's at the end reaffirms the width and breadth of their documentation. That said, the film is totally gripping, enlightening about history and the art world, and it flies by quickly. For fans of Schiele's work, it's an extra pleasure, but it's for everyone who cares about making the world a better place.

This is a fascinating look at the attempted restitution of a valuable work of art stolen from a Viennese Jew by Nazis.

It shockingly lays bare corruption in the highest corridors, including museums and art collectors in Austria and New York, a U.S. Senator, and even the most respected news media including NPR.

It's a great story and well worth watching. Evidently the "Wally" case, which lasted decades, was a landmark situation in the world of artwork stolen by the Nazis.