Woman in Gold

I seem to write my observations on almost all films that I see.  After having my travel advisor period I moved to a movie critic role. I wonder what next.

                                                  

Last week I saw Woman in Gold and my thoughts were  “I skip this one, this is  nothing special”. However after a couple of days some reflections and memories that linked with the film came to me in droves. The film is about many things and one of them is Vienna, town that has been close to my heart for many years. The old memories woke up and they were very beautiful moments I experienced in this elegant town. The film is responsible for  a Viennese revival in my  heart. For me it is good enough reason to write about Woman in Gold. To write about the film, the painting and also Mozart, Vienna and some of my story.

 

The film tells a real story, the story of Maria Altman reclaiming the family possessions taken by Nazis during the war and then appropriated by the Austrian government as national treasures. The biggest treasure of all is The Woman in Gold, a Klimt portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer an aunt of Maria Altman. It is a good story with a some sort of happy ending, the painting returns to its owner – Maria. As Maria Altman lived in California the painting landed up in the US in Neue Galerie in Manhattan and it is permanently on display there. Actually the story from the financial point of view is a really great success. The total realised value added up to over 300 million dollars.

Being born Polish and spending my early years in Poland I have seen many films based on the Second World War and human tragedies experienced during that time. By comparison Woman in Gold is a very mild version but moving nevertheless. The film intermixes contemporary times, dramatic scenes from Nazi’s Anschluss of Austria in 1938 with happy moments of the  Bloch-Bauer family.

My favourite scene is a very theatrical wedding of Maria when her future husband Fritz Altman,  an opera singer, sings a Mozart aria luring her into saying yes. How could she refuse? The music was great and the intentions of the young man so romantic. She says YES and the scenes of the wedding reception follow. The family dances a happy, energetic Jewish dance. The dancing scene is repeated few times through the film but each time comes across to the viewers in a different emotional intensity and content. From happy and joyous to bringing premonition of tragic, cruel times ahead.  Music greatly helps to passing the messages.

Vienna was my first Western city to visit and it was on a business trip. How glamorous! Putting the business aspect of the trip aside, there is a lot to remember from more personal perspective. 

Going to the Vienna Opera so see Don Giovanni was like being a part of a fairy tale.  The grand theatre with all its sparkle, glass of champagne in my hand, elegant ladies in ball gowns around me. It was quite an experience for a young inexperienced woman from the Eastern Block.

I was also invited to the Sacher Hotel Caffee for a Vienna coffee and Sachertorte. Apparently when in Vienna one is supposed to do that.

                                                 

While chocolate cakes were not my favourite at that time, it was a beautiful experience to be remembered mainly due to the  special company was keeping.

                                          

Walking through elegant streets of Vienna like Mariahilfer Strasse was also quite an experience. Passersby were absolutely elegant. Ladies  exquisitely groomed in their wide brim hats, wearing gloves at any weather. I wonder if this is still the way these days? Helen Mirren playing older Maria portraits one of such elegant ladies from Vienna. Nothing much Californian about her. Her posture, her simple and elegant outfits, her dignity mixed with chutzpah are fabulous. To me it is a quintessential Viennese  elegance. Or at least this is how I imagine it should be.

                                                       

One of the major characters of the film is  Randol Schoenberg, played by Ryan Reynolds, a young lawyer who helps Maria Altman to reclaim the family possessions. Randol Schoenberg  is also a blogger and he writes about the film and about the real events related to the film events  in his blog  http://schoenblog.com/?p=581. I found it very interesting. This is not particularly relevant to the story but he is a grandson of Arnold Schoenberg composer and painter contemporary to Herman Hesse.