I have wanted to see this one for quite some time, even tried to get my darling to see it at the movies. But no luck!
Anyway, we both found the story interesting, and even my darling liked it although he first thought it was going to be a chick flick.
I guess they might have changed some bits of the story, but it made me think of both today's situation with all the refugees coming to Sweden. And also back to history and WWII. I think it's hard to imagine what they had to go through. The world should never forget!!
★★★
Title: Woman in Gold
Release dates:
1 April 2015 (United States)
10 April 2015 (United Kingdom)
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English (+German)
Plot
In a series of flashbacks throughout the film, Maria Altmann recalls the arrival of Nazi forces in Vienna, and the subsequent suppression of the Jewish community and the looting and pillaging conducted by the Nazis against Jewish families. Seeking to escape before the country is completely shut off, Maria Altmann and members of her family attempt to flee to the United States. While Altmann and her husband are successful in their escape, she is forced to abandon her parents in Vienna.
In the present, living in Los Angeles, a now elderly and widowed Altmann attends the funeral for her sister. She discovers letters in her sister's possession dating to the late 1940s, which reveal an attempt to recover artwork owned by the Altmann family that was left behind during the family's flight for freedom and subsequently stolen by the Nazis. Of particular note is a painting of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, now known in Austria as the "Woman in Gold".
Altmann enlists the help of Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of her close friends, but a lawyer with little experience, to make a claim to the art restitution board in Austria. Reluctantly returning to her homeland, Altmann discovers that the country's minister and art director are unwilling to part with the painting, which they feel has become part of the national identity. Altmann is told that the painting was in fact legitimately willed to the gallery by her aunt. Upon further investigation by her lawyer and Austrian journalist Hubertus Czernin, this claim proves to be incorrect, as the alleged will is invalid due to the fact that her aunt did not own the painting in question, the artist's fee having been paid by her uncle. Schoenberg files a challenge with the art restitution board, but it is denied and Altmann does not have the money needed to challenge the ruling. Defeated, she and Schoenberg return to the United States...
Cast
Helen Mirren as Maria Altmann
Tatiana Maslany as young Maria Altmann
Ryan Reynolds as Randol (Randy) Schoenberg
Daniel Brühl as Hubertus Czernin
Katie Holmes as Pam Schoenberg
Max Irons as Fredrick "Fritz" Altmann
Charles Dance as Sherman
Elizabeth McGovern as Judge Florence-Marie Cooper
Jonathan Pryce as William Rehnquist, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Moritz Bleibtreu as Gustav Klimt
Antje Traue as Adele Bloch-Bauer
Info @ Wikipedia
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