The Monuments Men Movie Review Example

Art has always been one of the most valuable things in the whole society. People appreciate art because it keeps the history and memory of the humanity. Paintings, sculptures, memoirs can be more valuable than even some of the history books. The reason is quite simple. The history books may be rewritten in accordance with the requirements of the current government. However, such memorable things as paintings and sculptures are almost the immortal reminders of the human history. The film The Monuments Men is a historical drama that shows how people tried to save works of art during the war. The plot of the film is very clear. The team of historians and museum curators come together in order to save the famous works of art that have been stolen by the Nazis before Hitler had time to destroy them. This paper discusses a question, whether any piece of art worth a human life in the context of the mentioned above film.
First of all, it must be said that the Monuments Men were soldiers only partially. They decided to wear military uniforms only to be able to fulfill their mission in the occupied territories. In order to save the greatest creations of humanity, they risked their lives. Moreover, two of them even died, fulfilling their important mission. They were not typical soldiers because they had a noble mission, while many other soldiers were just blind executors of their management`s orders. The Monuments Men were proactive because that were they who first thought of the need to save the monuments. Also, all of them were brave and risky, given their elderly age and the lack of military training and experience. They were very creative and sincere, which allowed them to seek and to save so many pieces of art, regardless of the obstacles that some of the soldiers were doing to them. They were selfless, courageous and understanding. For this mission, many of them were forced to leave their work and family. And although they were armed, they almost did not use their weapons to attack because death of the opponent was not their goal.
In fact, the Monuments Men were real heroes, who risked their own lives to save the art memory of the humanity. People who sacrifice their lives in order to save the future of other people can be fairly called saints. In fact, they need to have great courage and honor, to be ready to die for the happiness of others. This film shows that the war involved not only ordinary soldiers, but also artists, historians and museum curators, who were doing everything possible just to save the monuments and pieces of art. After this film, it becomes clear that the heroism is not to kill those who interferes with you, but an attempt to save something what is valuable. The work done by the Monuments Men during the Second World War is priceless because every piece of art contains a huge piece of history. Consequently, the whole history of humanity can be traced in the objects of art.
This film is a very valuable movie because the director managed to show the collateral damage of war just in the two-hour video. Honestly, I was not very conscious of the real scale of this damage. Of course, I, like most people, understand that any war always has a great damage effect on art, history, architecture and all the monuments in general. However, before watching the movie, I had no idea of how people like the Monuments Men struggled with it in reality. Of course, stealing or damaging the monument has irreversible moral consequences for those who did it. However, if one dared to do so, he or she may not be aware of all the wrong effect of their actions. Therefore, those who demolish monuments have only two ways: either they repent and regret, or continue to do the same bad things.
The film shows that Hitler had the goal to collect all possible the most valuable monuments of the world in his own museum. His motives of such an intention are clear. If this plan had succeeded, it would have symbolized a complete Hitler's power over the conquered territories. Each piece of art reflects the long history of mankind, and Hitler wanted to feel himself like the chief of all the people in this way. This would have glorified the Third Reich, according to Hitler's intentions. Hitler was a man who wanted to have a total control over everything that happens around him. He had a plan not only to seize additional territory, but also to assign their cultural heritage to himself. He knew that if he got all the best cultural wealth of the occupied territories, he would have a lot of control over them. And even if he did not win that war, he would plan to destroy all the stolen monuments because it would mean a big cultural punch and a huge loss for the whole humanity. The nations, who lose their culture, also lose much of their historical memory and national identity. Fortunately, his planes totally failed. However, despite of the huge efforts of volunteers, numerous monuments, paintings and another valuable pieces of art were destroyed and burnt.
At the end, it is important to say that this film is a perfect illustration of such a fact that every person`s talent is valuable only if it is beneficial to people. Moreover, this film should be shown to as much people as possible. Before being transferred to the MFAA, some of the Monuments Men did not make use of their talents because they, their talents and their knowledge were "conserved" in them. Before the war, these experts and critics used to enjoy the arts just for themselves. But the salvation of the many monuments allowed them apply their knowledge of the arts to helping preserve the history of all mankind. This story shows that it is particularly important to preserve art and to apply talents. Many lives have been lost in order to save the monuments as they are the mirrors of the whole human life. The fact that thousands of works of art were saved, shows that art, as well as people`s history, is immortal. Thus, it is the art, which will store the history of mankind forever.