Review of The Monuments Men, directed by George Clooney

I will admit, until it appeared in the movies section of Netflix, I had no idea this film existed. During the summer of 2023 I had been really into watching movies about World War II, especially ones that took on the perspective of random people I had no idea existed until I had watched the movie.

Some people make jokes about people who like World War II history and major in it are men, but somehow I’ve been having my own World War II phase while in graduate school and specializing in literature and history during the period.

Anyways, I like art and art history, which is why I ultimately made the decision to watch this movie. If I didn’t I don’t think I would’ve cared enough to watch The Monuments Men, as it seemed like a savior story in which the American Army swoops in and saves the day. Sure, it happened in real life, but I’m starting to get sick of the American Army as heroes narrative.

I’ve rambled enough already! Let’s get into the review.

The American Army tries to find stolen art and return them to their owners during World War II.

The movie begins in 1943, when the Allies are starting to see some success on the European front. Meanwhile, back home in the United States, Frank Stokes has a mission. He wants to go find the lost art that has been taken in the midst of war, and he’s about to make his case to FDR.

He argues that if they win, it will not seem complete without the art that’s been celebrated throughout Western history, and somehow Roosevelt decides that this is something worth pursuing. An Army unit called the Monuments Men is formed, and Frank is in charge of it.

Bringing together museum directors, art historians, curators, and a single architect, they’re going to search for the art that’s been stolen by the opposite side. One of their most beneficial allies with be Claire Simone, who has been coerced by the occupying Nazis to help them in their art theft. She knows where the officials have been taking the art, and watches as the train carrying the art moves without her.

Meanwhile, the Monuments men are finding themselves hindered by a lack of cooperation from their own side. When one of them meets Claire, she initially tells them she would not help, as she thinks the Americans are going to take the art back to their country.

When a soldier goes to Bruges and tries to save a piece of art by Michelangelo, he is killed. More time passes and when they get some intel, they discover a home full of looted art.

1944 arrives and passes by. Claire agrees to help the Americans when she realizes they are willing to return the art to their owners, and she gives the ledger she made with all of the information she compiled, which is critical in their fight against the Nazis and their art theft.

They know where a lot of the art is now stored, but worry about the Soviets taking art from the land it’s moving through in war. They begin investigating mines, and learn that thousands of art pieces are going to be destroyed or seized, and evacuate a mine of its contents before the Soviets come.

Throughout the years, the team recovers countless art, and with a meeting with Truman, Frank is asked whether the lives lost were worth saving the art. He says yes. Truman then asks if anyone will remember the deaths that came from saving these pieces, and, thirty years later, Frank takes his grandson to see the work he helped save.

Overall Thoughts

If you’re not into art or World War II history, then you might find a movie like this kind of dry. I thought there were entire sections of the movie where I felt like I was going to fall asleep. While I might’ve liked to read about this history, I’m not sure if it was really a compelling subject as a movie.

There’s another movie I’ll be reviewing soon that also falls into this kind of territory, and I thought that movie also lacked a compelling touch to it throughout. I’m glad I learned about this unit and their moment in art history, but perhaps a movie wasn’t the best medium.

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