You probably wondering why it took me quite a while to discuss my opinionated view on the movie THE MONUMENT MEN starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman and Cate Blanchett. There are too many important cast of characters in the movie however what is the relevance in this movie that made them "monumental?" Are the treasures worth the lives of those people who gave their lives just for the sake of that "valuable research?" How much are the original paintings supposedly been burnt by Adolph Hitler during the Nazi regime? Why those masterpieces were burned in the first place?
The movie opens with the "missionaries having group consultation about something pertaining to the arts, masterpieces and other grandeur vast of wealth they have to hide or buried whatever is the true nature and purpose the motive of such conference by the religious sect. Famous paintings were shown on big canvas, on huge frames. Just the frames alone you know those masterpieces are worth more than art itself. It was in 1943 Paris, France- The Nazis officer and Dr. Stahl had introspection about the famous artworks, then the Nazi official asked for champagne. Cate Blanchet in her role as the museum curator went to the kitchen and asked the other lady a crystal glass of champagne. But before that, the two ladies spit saliva on the crystal glass before the champagne is poured unknowingly, the officer drunk the champagne.
August of 1943 Milan, Italy- George Clooney in his role as a soldier, a military whose into serving as surveyor-researcher for the famous relics, artifacts, artworks of all kinds with value especially those of valuable arts left behind by the Jews during the Holocaust. To retrieve all those worthy valuable important original pieces of massive wealth he needs his men to do the work for him and he recruited these men who are skilled in their chosen profession. (Hmm, why is it the story line seemed to be the same as my novel?) It's weird right? Anyway, so those men were recruited, trained under military way. 1944, NY - Special Ops.
1944 July Normandy, France You know what happened in Normandy right? Matt Damon's role went as far as France to find one Jewish family, he met Cate Blanchett (curator of the museum). They became friends, he gathered more informations. The woman seemed to have fallen for him but he never give her special attention. More scenes followed, less dialogue for George Clooney, Bill Murray and other actors. Nothing significant. There's not much fighting in a war era. They found the massive wealth inside the cave, a tunnel where the old railway is located (looks like the site of the Walking Dead series). They found all the masterpieces and they counted them into 16,000 artworks. They also found a barrel of gold nuggets. Nuggets smaller than baby's tooth. Would you believe that? They are arts made by Picasso, Rembrandt and other famous painters. When they load wjhat they can load to their vehicles and when they returned to the tunnel, some of the treasures were burned to pieces. Why Hitler and his men burned them down? Next scene Bill Murray had his tooth pulled out. Another scene where Matt Damon is holding up to the piece of wood in the tunnel and can't move because there's hidden bomb sort of booby trap underneath the ground. He looks like a stripper. lol. J/K. I don't know what's happening to that movie. I fall asleep so many times because it was too slow. It's like the traffic jam in Quiapo area on Friday when all the vehicles are stranded with no chance of movement because they all been stranded. Shocking. When I woke up all I can see from the screen are the list of the cast and characters being scrolled down on the screen. Gheez, what happened to that movie? They should have at least the best musical score that can shock your senses you know like a macabre sound, creepy and nostalgic. The movie is a hush-hush, looks like the budget is not enough. The sound system failed in that movie. The delivery of dialogue is not clear, not too many talk and if ever someone talked it's not clear enough and of no importance. The cast of characters are known, popular and famous good actors and actress, but why they made this movie somewhat boring?
Now what? Why Hitler burned down the artworks and masterpieces which probably worth millions of dollars? How old are those works of art? There...that's the question, how old? It could be so many century old? Hitler is asthmatic. He had problem with health. He hated dust and dirt. Why you have to keep works of art older than Jordan river? You don't know what kind of ancient diseases you will have from having those arts on your hands. It was at the time when there's no cure for cholera, leprosy, tuberculosis, polio and other incurable diseases because ANTIBIOTIC and POLIO VACCINE were only discovered after World War II. In this movie, the Nazi officer died. Could it be that the saliva on the crystal glass is toxic? Who knows? The saliva is toxic or the artworks more than hundred century old that are toxic? The gold nuggets are from the dead decaying bodies of those who died from the Holocaust and you want the gold on your mouth and on your teeth?
It made me sleepy to watch this movie however, the whole story tells you of maybe the non-fiction aspect" of the true nature of war of how it happened? Why war happened? Just like thePearl Harbor story of people not knowing the real time and day. Is it the fault of the messenger? Fault on map location and locator? Who owns the ORIGINAL MAP? Who knows the real story from beginning to end of the world?
That's the problem with secrecy. Just as what Forest Gump says, "life is like a box of chocolate, you don't know what you will get." Life is like a crystal glass of champagne you don't know what you will drink with it.
