No Monuments Were Saved in the Making of this Movie

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2014)

In 2014 "The Monuments Men" directed by George Clooney was released, starring a questionable group of men tasked with the mission of rescuing artworks stolen by the Nazis. During World War Ⅱ, U.S. President Roosevelt (Michael Dalton) ordered these men with the mission of making sure the art treasures of the Western World survive the war; this army unit comprised of seven curators, museum directors, and art historians. With the help of members of the French Resistance, such as the French art historian Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett), these men carried out the task of recovering and delivering the masterpieces to their rightful owners. This group of remarkable men would eventually suffer the loss of two members, Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) and Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin); instead of this causing their resolve to falter it strengthened the men and their belief that their mission was worth carrying onwards. After the Nero Decree was issued by Hitler (James Payton) on the 19th of March the Monuments Men had to go into overdrive, not only did they have to recover the millions of pieces of art stolen by the Nazis but also retrieve them before the Russian equivalent troops seize the artworks with no intention of returning them.
While the dialogue of the film is captivating, there are two recurring underlying messages. The general argument in the film is that during war that the missions should not be an either/or stance,that it is both equally important to save both the people and their culture. While some argue that these men should have been more involved with aiding the Allies in stopping the Holocaust, they were not men that were going to change anything the tide in that battle, but they could preserve who they were as a people. This is best demonstrated in the movie when one of the men returns a stolen painting to the empty house of a Jew, simply because it belonged there. The other central theme was whether a soldier's life is worth risking and potentially losing over a painting or a statue. The director, through the compelling stories of bravery of the men, makes a strong case for the belief that saving the world is about more than just saving its people.
This movie is precious to me; the saving of art is equally as important as the saving the people. In the beginning fifteen minutes of the movie George Clooney's character states that, "Your lives are more important than a piece of art," and it was not until the death of two team members that he realized this was not the case. His voice overlaps the scene of Jean Claude's death and his earlier opinion of their cause is changed when he expresses, "No piece of art was worth a mans life. But these last months have proved me wrong. This is our history and it is not to be stolen or destroyed. It is to be held up and admired." During war towns will fall and people will die but who we are as humans must survive. Our achievements are important and are worth protecting no matter the cost.