Monuments Men - Ungewöhnliche Helden
Regie:
George ClooneyKamera:
Phedon PapamichaelMusik:
Alexandre DesplatBesetzung:
George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balaban, Dimitri Leonidas (mehr)Inhalte(1)
Der Kunsthistoriker Frank Stokes erhält von Präsident Roosevelt höchstpersönlich einen Sonderauftrag: Er soll einen Trupp von kunstsinnigen Experten zusammenstellen, die nach der Landung an der Normandie Europas Kunstschätze vor der Zerstörung durch die Nazis bewahren sollen. In einer kurzen militärischen Grundausbildung werden die acht höchst unterschiedlichen Männer auf ihre Aufgabe vorbereitet. Ihre gefährliche Mission hinter feindlichen Linien entwickelt sich bald zum wahren Himmelfahrtskommando. (ORF)
(mehr)Kritiken (7)
The more you know about the subject Clooney is talking about, the more the film will appeal to you. Whether it’s the role of an unassuming, conscientious woman of the people named Claire Simone, thanks to whom a large part of the looted artworks was saved (see for instance the documentary Hitler Museum from 2006), or the real characters of the Monument Men, whose fates have been the subject of several books, but it is thanks to Clooney that they appear for the first time in a feature film, and George has thus paid one big debt to these guys thanks to whom we can enjoy this beautiful art in galleries today. And there’s eye candy here, too. The film has a high visual value thanks to the great cinematography, a high informational value thanks to the interesting chosen theme (so I laugh at some of the silly criticisms here about the "no-agency") and the only thing I would criticize is how the forcefully added pathos in some scenes, or, on the contrary, inappropriately incorporated humour, clashes with the serious tone of the film as a whole. This, unfortunately, is something Clooney didn’t keep an eye on. But other than that, I'm really, really glad I saw it and I'm eager to read more about this interesting aspect of World War II.
()
I would like to believe that Clooney was inspired by the text of Kristin Thompson’s An Aesthetic of Discrepancy and it would thus be correct to perceive the variability of tone as a sign of formalistic richness rather than creative cluelessness. The actual drama in the film is the struggle between respect for the work of the real Monuments Men and adulation for lighter ensemble war movies (The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen). On the one hand, the book’s episodic structure and its loose connection of chapters through the use of letters is preserved; on the other hand, The Monuments Men definitely is not intended to be an objective, fact-based docudrama. It would also like to pay tribute to the group of men and women who were instrumental in preserving rare artifacts for future generations. Each of the participants therefore got his or her own scene (or two). However, these scenes add information to the micro-stories, which either go nowhere and lack a satisfying resolution (the love affair), or are too hastily brought to an end and used as an assault on the viewer’s emotions (Jeffries regaining his lost self-esteem). Th film needed to decide whether it cared more about the monuments or about the preservationists, because it’s not able to deal with both in the span of two hours in a way that wouldn’t seem incomplete. At the same time, it isn’t able to use for the purposes of the narrative the scenes that effectively convey its noble ideas and which will thus be all the more annoying the more you find American patriotism distasteful. The absence (or at least unclarity) of a firm core causes the narrative to break down into individual incidents, which sometimes work on their own (the antipersonnel mine, most of the grotesque interludes with Murray and Balaban), but do not fit into any greater whole with a clear direction or tone. Though the alternation of these incidents has a certain logic (assembly of the team and division of tasks after fifteen minutes, the team splits up after half an hour, they come back together after roughly an hour and then go their own ways again in pairs), we don’t spend enough time with any of the protagonists to be drawn into their personal stories. Not even the recovery of the Ghent Altarpiece and the Madonna of Bruges can be described as a goal to which the events lead in a focused manner. The preservationist do not gradually gain clues; in fact, we are not given the impression that they are in any way under time pressure (with the exception of the artificially dramatised climax, when they have to be faster than the caricature of a Russian leader), as they simply get to the two treasures at the right time (i.e. at the end of the film). They get there thanks in part to random chance (the incident with the dentist actually happened), and partly thanks to soldiers forcibly clearing the way for them. In the end, thanks to the great actors who obviously enjoyed their roles, I enjoyed a scene here and there, but the film as a whole didn’t manage to hold my attention for long. At the same time, I wasn’t bothered by it. Though The Monuments Men doesn’t know what it wants and reduces history to a struggle between good and evil, it’s not stupid or cheap (in terms of production values). Clooney perhaps failed as a director and screenwriter, but he still managed to retain his dignity for the time being. 60%
()
(weniger)
(mehr)
It’s a pity that George Clooney didn’t decide whether to turn this story into a comedy, similar to The Seventh Company, or a classic war movie with everything it entails. With actors of the likes of Bill Murray, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin or Clooney himself, he leaned more towards the comedy, but then when I watched the film, I almost didn’t laugh at all. On the other hand, I didn’t really enjoy the proper war atmosphere either. It’s simply a bad caricature, which has a bit of everything, but together it has nothing, and I’m very sorry about that. In any case, I still have to admit that the story is good and as usual, there are a few absolutely great scenes. For example the shootout, smoking with a Nazi or a visiting a German whose living room boasts one “copy” of some famous painting next to another, were definitely worth it. However, I’m sorry to say that as a whole the film is just average. It’s hard to give a better rating to something that often reminds you of M.A.S.H., except that everyone is so deadly serious.
()
The touching, comedic, and patriotic aspects sometimes clash with each other, but George Clooney manages to chew on this giant chunk thoroughly enough that he gives me a war experience so atypical I would even trust him with the attack on Berlin alone. Besides, Matt Damon simply knows how to handle the role of the strong, smiling type.
()
The Monuments Men is a boring patron of war movies. The laid-back atmosphere and almost total lack of danger rob Clooney’s movie of any thrill and drive. On the other hand, it offers a couple of humorous scenes and some fascinating information from the background of the Second World War ending. Pleasant, but nothing special.
()
Ein absolut toller Film, in dem alles ist, bei dem ich nichts kritisieren kann und den ich mir sicherlich noch einmal anschauen werden. In The Ides of March - Tage des Verrats war ich von George Clooney nicht besonders begeistert. Umso mehr habe ich mich über Monuments Men - Ungewöhnliche Helden gefreut. Die Besetzung ist ausgezeichnet (jeder hat einen Moment, in dem er glänzen kann), die Paare wurden super kombiniert (John Goodman und Jean Dujardin, Bill Murray und Bob Balaban), trockener Humor, eine angemessene Menge an Pathos, Spannung und Action… Desplats großartige Musik (das Hauptmotiv wie aus einem Kriegsfilm aus den 60ern, der Rest der Musik wie aus Williams’ Der Soldat James Ryan oder Giacchinos "Medal of Honor"), eine malerische Retro-Kamera und eine sehr interessante und originelle Auffassung der Nazi-Willkür, welche dem Publikum aus der Sicht von Kuratoren, Bildhauern und Malern präsentiert wird. Was will man mehr? Nichts. Falls jemand so etwas wie Inglourious Basterds 2 erwartet, wird er natürlich enttäuscht sein – und das geschieht ihm recht!
()
I can't help it, but the whole time I had a feeling that it was mainly about the enjoyment of the creators and actors who were involved in this, and who are truly top-tier, but I also had a feeling that the audience was somewhat forgotten. The title and the basic plot evoked something that was given to the viewer. But exactly that, nothing more. The form was quite easy, polished, simply put, but I didn't feel anything more.
()