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The Monuments Men, an Analysis

In: Film and Music

Submitted By Dmize
Words 692
Pages 3
Danny Meiselman
Intro to Art
08/30/14
The Monuments Men: A Post Viewing Analysis

The story of the Monuments men has been called the greatest treasure hunt in history. It is a story of a World War II platoon made up entirely of 7 art experts, who president Roosevelt assigned to be in charge of rescuing the countless priceless pieces of art stolen by the Nazis, and return them to their rightful owners or Museums. The president was convinced to do so by a man named Frank Stokes, who learned that Hitler was stealing are great works of art in order to store them in his personal museum. In the movie, Frank Stokes (George Clooney) is the leader of the troop they call the Monuments Men. He convinces President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to let him and his men try to save the thousands of years of culture that was at risk of being lost forever. His argument was that if you take away a culture’s greatest achievements, then that culture will be forgotten forever, and it will be as if it never existed. As Clooney elegantly puts it in the movie, “While we must win this war, we should also remember the high price that will be paid if the very foundation of modern society is destroyed.” It is the task of Stokes to recruit six more men, all museum curators and art historians, to accompany him in this dangerous mission across enemy lines. After he gets his team together, they are put through basic training with the rest of the infantry. When they were in training, they did not have the opportunity to really train for battle. As John Goodman puts it in the movie, “They’re taking it easy on us old guys, I think they feel bad for us.” While the seven men may be able to spot the Mona Lisa or Davincii’s Madonna, they were not ready for the harsh realities of war, even though the war was ending. In the process of searching for the art, the men find problems on both sides. The US

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