Movies
Film
Tracking Shots
The Rape of Europa
Michelle Orange
Tuesday, September 4th 2007
Most Popular
-
You Can't Escape the Canvasser's Pitch 'Got a minute?' The young bleeding-heart carnivores who hunt you down on your lunch hour
-
The Coen Brothers Make Another Mockery with Burn After Reading Remarkably consistent, there's nothing these boys can't hold up to ridicule
-
No Witness Protection for Mobster Turned Snitch Joe Campy. PS: He's Hiding in Plain Sight. PPS: He has a web site.
-
Mickey Rourke is The Wrestler The onetime Hollywood A-lister climbs back in the ring with Darren Aronofsky's latest
-
Midway Through the Toronto Film Fest, and Things are Looking Bleak Oh, Canada
Impressive in scope if unremarkable in style, The Rape of Europa provides a chronology of World War II as it was experienced by "David," "Mona Lisa," and other artistic treasures the Nazis plundered. Though dryly executed and narrated by a staid Joan Allen, the doc is an excellent survey of the techniques employed by the Third Reich to not just demoralize but de-historicize the countries they invaded. The fact that Hitler was an avid art collector (and a bitter art school reject) made the looting not only professionally but personally rewarding. Amassing a broad spectrum of interviewees, from the niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the subject of Klimt's stolen "Gold Portrait," to former "Monument Men" (allied soldiers charged with guarding and recovering treasures), the directors move through the war, invasion by invasion, detailing the frantic measures each country undertook to protect its artistic heritage. With thousands of artworks still missing today and ongoing disputes about rights and restorations, this is not only a vital glimpse at an overlooked aspect of the war but a reminder of its enduring legacies.
Recent Articles
More by Michelle Orange
An Ode to Trailblazing Publisher Barney Rosset in Obscene
Ripple Effect: Bad Writing, Acting, and Editing
Several ordinarily banal movies soldered into one amazingly bad one.
Hounddog
Able Danger
Forgiveness
show/hide comments (0)
write a comment
Site Search «
Village Voice Insiders
- Weekly villagevoice.com
- Weekly freebies and Special Offers
- Daily "What To Do in NYC" E-mail
- Information on the Performing Arts
- New York Bites - Restaurants Newsletter
| buy, sell, trade 5,215 | musician 3,039 |
| rentals 15,060 | jobs 5,657 |
| adult entertainment 9,761 | |
| classifieds | backpage.com | Post ads for free! | |
|---|---|
