Woman in Gold

Name: Woman in Gold
Director: Simon Curtis
Genre: Documentary, Drama, History
Released: 2015
Duration: 1 h 44 min
Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany

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Documentary
Drama

2015
Simon Curtis
104 mins
12A

Summary

Drama based on a true story, starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. In the late 1930s, Austrian-born Maria Altmann and her husband flee to the United States when the Nazis arrive in Vienna. Decades later, the now-widowed Maria discovers artwork belonging to her family and stolen by the Nazis has been obtained by the Austrian government, notably Gustav Klimt's Woman in Gold, a portrait of her aunt Adele. But her attempt to regain this painting and others soon plunges Maria and inexperienced lawyer Randol Schoenberg into a frustrating legal battle.

IMDB

Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Stella Papamichael

Helen Mirren keeps her chin up in a sentimental true-life drama, playing Maria Altmann, a proud Jewish woman who fled Austria during the Nazi invasion and made headlines decades later, in 2000, when she sought to reclaim a Gustav Klimt portrait of her aunt - Klimt's muse, Adele Bloch-Bauer - from the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna. There are shades of Philomena as the older woman teams up with a lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) seeking justice on her behalf (though Reynolds keeps his usual wisecracking shtick toned down). Altmann is a source of mild humour, with her brittle exactitude, even if director Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) isn't entirely sure how to approach her - the shadow of the Holocaust hangs over her as well. The flashbacks to Altmann's escape from Austria (young Maria played by Tatiana Maslany) are the tensest scenes of the film, and that surely isn't as it should be. Curtis doesn't convey the emotional pull of the artwork that keeps Altmann soldiering on, and heaps this burden on his star instead. Still, it's an intriguing David v Goliath battle and Mirren positively glows with indignation.

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7.3/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameMaria AltmannHelen MirrenRandol SchoenbergRyan ReynoldsHubertus CzerninDaniel BrühlPamKatie HolmesYoung MariaTatiana MaslanyFritzMax IronsShermanCharles DanceAdele Bloch-BauerAntje TraueJudge Florence CooperElizabeth McGovernChief Justice RehnquistJonathan PryceBarbara SchoenbergFrances FisherGustav KlimtMoritz BleibtreuFerdinand Bloch-BauerHenry GoodmanGustav Bloch-BauerAllan Corduner

Crew

rolenameDirectorSimon Curtis

Details

Theatrical distributor

Entertainment

Released on

2015-04-10

Languages

English | German | Hebrew

Guidance

Swearing

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour