Star studded and comedic, this film directed by George Clooney still fails to deliver despite a coherent centralized message about the importance of art to cultural preservation and the identity of civilization.
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| Photo from Google Images |
The
film starts two years before the end of Adolf Hitler's dictatorial regime. A
trope is laid out, where authority appears suddenly in the face of random
individuals to group them together and accomplish a task.
An
all-male group, the Monuments Men is tasked to retrieve and save the last
remaining pieces of art either stolen or hidden in the great churches and
corners of Europe. Their composition characterizes that time of humanity as
reeking of gender inequality where aristocracy and the military is dominated by
patriarchs.
Nonetheless,
these men are handpicked for the ruthless path that the mission asks of them.
A
compelling argument was needed to convince Roosevelt to assemble art scholars
for the mission, but the monologue was awful and lacked the academic
intelligence to start the foundation of making these pieces of art relevant
even to the viewer.
As
they are assembled, these art scholars didn't receive the justice that they
need to earn sympathy and solidify their fortitude as capable soldiers whose
deaths would matter. There was an architect, a Director of Design at the Chalet
School of Arts, and a sculptor.
But
they were nothing beyond that and neither do we know their qualifying
qualities.
There
was a heavy reliance on poetic monologues to narrate the importance of the
central message of the plot, instead of physically showing the essence of
passion needed of the Monuments Men.
Though
there were well-placed humorous instances, it will not be enough to compensate
for the lackluster build up of interest over the cruciality of these
socio-political conflicts that threaten works of art.
At
one point, the death of a character almost absolved all that is lacking as he
struggled to protect the Madonna and Child of Michelangelo.
In
a war film derived from a non-fiction book, George Clooney should have put more
taste into his cinematography if he wishes to focus more on the art instead of
character development.
Indeed,
the message of the film can be understood by even a layman. Yet if creativity
is not given attention, then it diminishes one of the defining qualities of
art: timelessness.
©The Pink Merman
Pacific-Atlantis Mermen Journal
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