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.
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.