Freeview film of the day: Woman in Gold
Helen Mirren has her day in court to claim ownership of an art treasure taken by the Nazis in this remarkable true story
- Andrew Collins
Published: Friday, 12 May 2017 at 11:01 pm
Woman in Gold ★★★
Premiere 8.30-10.10pm BBC2
Ad
The true story of a decade-long fight to recover a famous Viennese painting plundered by the invading Nazis at the start of the Second World War, Woman in Gold refers colloquially to the artwork itself. Officially titled Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, this gorgeous Byzantine fantasia completed with gold leaf by artist Gustav Klimt in 1907 lends a unique historical and visual angle to this latest reminder of atrocities against an entire culture. Helen Mirren plays the grumpy niece of Bloch-Bauer, who recruits Ryan Reynolds’s rookie lawyer to help her claim the stolen picture from the Austrian government and place it in LA where she now lives. It’s a fascinating legal yarn that provides director Simon Curtis with harrowing Anschluss flashbacks and modern-day showboating at the Supreme Court. Although it’s a little vanilla in tone, I was surprised to find Reynolds more convincing than Mirren.
For more of today’s free-to-air films, see our TV listings
Ad
Order your copy of the Radio Times Guide to Films 2017
Authors
Andrew Collins
Ad
Ad
Get the Christmas double issue
Too much to watch at Christmas? Let Radio Times do the choosing to find something the whole family will enjoy.
Loading...
Ad
Loading...