Art worth dying for

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2016)

I am convinced that George Clooney felt compelled to make a statement about the importance of protecting what's essential to Western Civilization. The film says that art is that essential ingredient. Glimpsing the bad and aggravated reviews it's obvious that the message did not get across all that well. My reaction to the film was entirely different from it's louder critics. I have never seen the Ghent Altarpiece nor the Madonna of Bruges. But I made a vow to go see them for myself asap. And I am grateful to Mr. Clooney that he nudged my priorities in the right direction. It is true enough that Clooney should have made a much better film of it all. It is odd to see men supposedly looking for hidden art in dusty cellars and blown-up mine shafts, themselves looking like aging movie stars on a costume picnic in their spotless just off the rack uniforms. On the other hand, repeated departures from any sense of realism seem to be a choice of style rather than just mistakes. I intend to give the film a second chance and just try not to be annoyed by its obvious flaws. After all, as far as war films about art go, there is just this one, so it's the best of it's genre as well as the worst.