Imagine yourself surrounded by all the joy and happiness possible. You
and your family have worked your entire life to get to this point. Then a
nightmare infiltrates your inner sanctum of happiness. This nightmare
is the Nazis stealing everything you have worked so hard to obtain only
to have it ripped from your helpless grasp. This is what happened to
countless Jewish families, but in this case it specifically revolves
around Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) as she attempts to re-acquire her
stolen painting, The Woman in Gold. To help her do so, she tasks the
assistance of novice lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds). Together
they might have a chance to trump the Austrian government and retrieve
what was wrongfully taken so many years ago.
Consider each half of Woman in Gold to be a development cycle. The
first half of the film delves into the back-story of Maria as she must
face the demons of her past. These traumatic events are not left
unexplained, but instead dug into entirely to show us not only the
horrific actions of the Nazis, but the dread and hopelessness Maria had
to face in order to escape their evil ways. The second half of the film
focuses on how the situation is affecting Randy. Randy constantly finds
himself oddly compelled to finish this one task. He faces so many family
and financial complications that its not even funny. I went through the
entire first half of the movie thinking "Reynold's character is going
to end up hugely underdeveloped," and boy was I glad I was mistaken.
The Woman in Gold truly is a work of art. Helen Mirren and Ryan
Reynolds provide a stupendous emotional rollercoaster that provides
insights onto the horrors outside of the Holocaust. Additionally, the
supporting cast of the film leaves an impact on the audience from each
of their characters alone. All these components lead me to say that this
film is a masterpiece of film making.
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