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Views from the Choir Loft

Movie Review: The Monuments Men

Fr. David Friel · February 16, 2014

OW SHOWING on the silver screen, George Clooney’s latest film, The Monuments Men, presents a story that would interest art enthusiasts. It loosely recounts the story of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program enacted by FDR and supported by the Allied forces. The so-called “Monuments Men” were a collection of curators and art historians who were tasked with preserving notable buildings and recovering stolen art during World War II and after its conclusion.

The film has received mostly unfavorable reviews. This is understandable, considering several major cinematic shortfalls. The story involves seven leading characters, none of whom are well developed. While portrayed by a cadre of noteworthy actors, the script leaves character development very thin. It is difficult to discern, moreover, whether the desired tone for the movie is serious or comedic, dramatic or action-oriented. Although the basic plot is based on history, there are also many points of departure from the real-life MFAA. The movie gives the appearance, at times, of being a collection of unrelated vignettes, rather than a cohesive story.

The Monuments Men nevertheless remains an interesting film to me, as a lover of art. It concerns a facet of WWII history that receives little attention, and it conveys a refreshingly reverential attitude toward the great art of the Western world. Throughout, the viewer senses that the Monuments Men feel empowered by the nobility of their task. Safeguarding the treasures of European art is portrayed as a mission at once practical and heroic.

We have discussed the enduring quality of art on these pages before, in another review. To see these themes incorporated into a wide-release motion picture from a leading actor & director, though, is most encouraging. It would be hard to imagine this picture not having a positive effect on the wider population’s respect for art’s special value.

Several scenes raise difficult questions regarding the value of a piece of “priceless” art. Is any piece of art more valuable than a human life? To that, we must answer no. Having said that, though, under the principle of double effect, there could still be situations in which risking one’s life for the sake of preserving a great work of art could be justifiable. Issues of proportionality and collateral damage are obliquely drawn in to the narrative, and some of the situations these men encounter really cause one to think. The plot, scattered though it may be, strongly conveys a sense of the corporate responsibility we all share for preserving art and handing it on to future generations; it seems to assume that all humanity shares in the ownership of our race’s greatest handiwork, on the basis that art is a foundational requisite for true culture.

In my opinion, the story is worth telling, and the real-life characters present opportunities that may have been better suited to a mini-series than a single-release film. It would have been entertaining to see such a strong cast bring texture and shape and life to these unsatisfying, flat character sketches. I recommend this film for artists and art lovers, less for its cinematic merits than for its thematic content and the piquant questions it raises.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty, Traditional Catholic Artwork, Traditional Catholic Paintings Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Fr. David Friel

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

On 12 March 1908, Feast of St. Gregory the Great, the complete publication of the “Graduale” was issued by the Vatican Press. That very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement “pro aliquibus locis”—the Introit of the new Feast of Our lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.

— A witness of the papal audience writing circa 1915

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