Movie Notes: The Rape Of Europa
= 5 stars
Directed by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen
Synopsis
During World War II, Hitler secretly plundered Europe’s art masterpieces in a plot to create the world’s greatest museum.
The Good
- Big irony: Hitler and his generals — agents of brutal destruction — were avid collectors of beautiful art. But all of the masterpieces clandestinely transported to Germany avoided wartime destruction.
- Fascinating stories behind individual collections and pieces — believing Nazis were hiding inside, Allieds bombed a priceless Italian mountain top monestary. Hitler hated modern art and ordered Picassos and Kandinskys burned. The Nazis considered Poland and Russia inferior nations, and therefore destroyed countless artworks and architecture during the scorched-earth invasions of both nations.
- Big question: is an artwork worth more than a human life? During war, the answer is not entirely clear, but often the historical importance or rarity of an object outweighed human lives, and was definitely worth more than the enemy forces who were to be killed on sight. That individuals on both sides worked so hard to preserve artistic treasures while simultaneously killing each other just underlines the truism that war is madness.
- The movie isn’t over: to this day, stolen or missing pieces occasionally surface. Recently, the Hermitage in Russia revealed 70 odd paintings taken from Germany during the final invasion of the war.
- TIght pacing for a documentary, even at nearly two hours, it spans the entire war, providing interesting counterpoint to all the classic war movies like Saving Private Ryan to Downfall, which shows Hitler’s secret architectural model of his dream city.
The Bad
- Documentary; no actors (save for narration by Joan Allen) or dramatizations.
Conclusion
Forces a new perspective on art using a different light, with my biggest pondering the circumstances under which an object becomes valued over a human life. Perhaps art becomes revered because it is always an innocent victim — it can’t fire a gun. Recommneded.
IMDB: The Rape Of Europa
Wikipedia: The Rape Of Europa
Rotten Tomatoes: The Rape Of Europa 79%