Trailer—The Rape of Europa

source: The Rape of Europa

Loosely centered on the well-known theft, from public and private collections, of great artworks and cultural artifacts by the Nazis, the Soviets, and common criminals during World War II and their removal in part to secret storage locations in Germany, Austria, and Russia, this documentary also touches on halting Allied war efforts to avoid the destruction of national heritage sites in Italy, still on-going restoration efforts after the war, issues of cultural patrimony (e.g., "Who owns, or should own, this stuff? The world? The nations from which it was plundered? The nations which suffered during wartime, won the war, and now claim it as restitution? Innocent purchasers for value? Religious communities? Descendents of long-dead wealthy collectors and benefactors who left it in place when they evacuated their homes?"), and the tens of thousands of artworks still unaccounted for. Hitler and Goering were collectors as well as thieves. Is it possible that the act of collecting is itself not totally above suspicion? Any of these minor themes, and others, would have made for an interesting documentary in itself. As it is, the documentary we see will please most history buffs and art fans. The historical footage is excellent -- Hitler was always Hitler, but pompous Goering surrendering his handgun momentarily showed fear -- the contemporary interviews of wartime survivors and art historians add flavor and insight, and the images of lost and found artworks are alternately chilling and thrilling. This film is accessible to an audience that may barely recognize the names da Vinci and Matisse. It tells something of the same story as "The Train" (1964) without the same level of fictional excitement.

If only the Vienna Art Academy would have found a place for young Adolf Hitler, we might have had a different world. But, they didn't think him a worthy artist, and upon his rise to power, he put his stamp on the art allowed in Germany and destroyed many works. This film is about Hitler and the Nazi efforts to steal art all over the world as they conquered countries. Poland was especially targeted, as Hitler planned to wipe out the Polish people, and all their culture and repopulate the country with Germans. The use of WWII footage made this especially poignant and brought home the evil in his mind. Next was Paris, and it was fascinating to see how they emptied the Louvre before the Germans came. The French managed to protect most of their art; except for the thousands of paintings in Jewish galleries, of course. The Russians managed to get a million paintings to Siberia before the Germans came, but many more paintings were at risk. The Nazis were not the only ones responsible for the destruction and theft of European art. The United States dropped tons of bombs and, in one case, destroyed the Montecassino Monastery completely with no enemy dead. The Camposanto in Pisa was destroyed by shells that missed their mark. But, the work that went on after the war to return the stolen art, and the work that goes on today to restore the damage gives on a good feeling. It is a shame it had to happen at all.

Wow, it is so tempting to comment on how the release of this film casts a dark shadow over the destruction of Babylonian manuscripts in Bagdad, Iraq a couple years back. I will not, though. Hitler, according to one of the talking heads in this film, "was not a bad painter at all, but he certainly was not great or innovative, either." That's well-stated, in my opinion. Of the three artists applying for the scholarship, he was easily the least talented. This fact is suggested, as well. I suspect that while he was not an artist of note himself, the most that could be said was that he did have an eye for artwork. Whether that would be a "remarkable" eye remains to be suggested, but it hardly matters. There are a few scenes in this film that are so incredibly harrowing, my mind had wandered into thoughts of how destructive was the damage in Europe: peculiar that that's precisely the objective of "good art," that it causes the mind and imagination to wander as such. The last twenty minutes offers a noticeable glimmer of hope (and it is not a too-little-too-late message, either): Give Back. At least that's what I heard. That said, this film offers a novel voice to the narrative presented. Thumbs up.

This was a real historical awakening. I didn't realize that the plundering of Europe was not only premeditated but also very systematic by the Nazi regime. The interviews were excellent but I would have enjoyed more. The archival footage from both the allies and axis powers was detailed and intimate which included color as well as b&w. I was near tears to think of the great loss of centuries of historical buildings, valuables, art and other treasures due to the one idiot. I couldn't help to think what if this was the USA. How horrible the people of Europe must have felt during and after the war. I had never heard of the French patriot Rose Valland before and she truly was a French hero.

If stripping a country of its art is akin to rape, then "The Rape of Europa" should be labeled a snuff film in the abstract sense. The Nazis not only violated the architecture of each city, they eviscerated it, by leveling everything they came in contact with to the ground. Germany penetrated so many European mothers, the audience may feel bludgeoned by the monotony of their serial greediness. "The Rape of Europa" gets repetitive but that's not the fault of the filmmaker. He has to tell the whole story; to leave any country out would be unconscionable, even though an unabridged comprehensiveness to the Nazis' relentless plundering of Europe's most prized possessions inevitably leads to audience fatigue. By the time the Nazis reach Russia, we're spent, exhausted, by their insatiability for beautiful things. Adolph Hitler was a real piece of work, wasn't he? But are we ourselves, entirely innocent? If Gustav Klimt's "Gold Portrait of Frau Bloch-Bauer can sell at auction for $135 million dollars, doesn't such an exorbitant price make us accidental Nazi sympathizers in the sense that we too place such a high value on art over the welfare of people? Think about how many mouths $135 million dollars could feed. A human life must be cheap; that's why people kill each other all the time without a second thought. Conversely, no sane person alive would willfully stick a knife or squeeze a bullet into a Vermeer. In "Schindler's List", Spielberg shows us a glimpse of the coordinated system by which the Nazis robbed the Jews, in a train station scene where officials instruct the doomed men and women to label their luggage as a way of obscuring their impending liquidation with faux-rationality. The train leaves, but the suitcases and bags stay behind. In a small back room, the suitcases are opened up and its contents are sorted out, itemized, and appraised. In bringing the story of material dispossession to the foreground, "The Rape of Europa" goes on record as being the only film about the holocaust with a happy ending. After the war ended, the art was recovered, and cultural heritages were kept intact. Is a work of art equal to a human life? Of course, not. That's why an exhibit like "Bodies"(the cadavers of Chinese dissidents as representational art) gets under people's skins. The corpses, fascinating as they may be, goes against human nature, because it sides with art; it treats the unclaimed bodies like a rumor.

"There are a hundred thousand men born to live and die who will not be as valuable to the world as one canvas." Sherwood Anderson The Nazis disposed of more than 6 million Jews; we may never know how many works of art they plundered from the great museums and private residences of Europe, but it's safe to estimate those works in the millions as well. The estimable documentary Rape of Europa gives a sometimes beautiful account of the loss at the hands of Adolph Hitler, a failed artist with a dream of building a world-class monument in his Austrian hometown of Linz, and his sybaritic lieutenant, Hermann Goering. The atrocities are counterbalanced by the heroic efforts of Europeans and American Monuments Men to save the works, the former spiriting the art away to alpine hideouts and the latter helping allied bombers avoid museums and scrupulously cataloging the returning pieces. The transportation of the fragile Winged Victory from the Louvre to the countryside is more exciting than any modern CGI masterpiece. Almost as an afterthought, the film shows the incomprehensible destruction of churches and homes whose ancient architectures are cultural museums themselves. I had forgotten the extent of the damage inflicted by both the Germans and the Allies on medieval cities. In a tone of reverence, a bit like the understatement of Night and Fog, narrator Joan Allen recounts the horror of Nazis carelessly trucking away priceless masterpieces during invasions and bombing bridges and museums vindictively as they retreat. Meanwhile an obscure clerk is heroically marking down the transactions so that 60 years later works can be returned to their rightful owners. Gustav Klimt's "Gold Portrait of Frau Bloch-Bauer," which opens the documentary, eventually is returned to its rightful owners and later fetches $135 million at auction. Such a transaction is a crass vindication of the atrocities, but such symbolism is all we may have left to remind us, as this documentary so incisively does, that demons roamed the earth stealing the soul out of whole civilizations.

I think somebody should make a documentary about the British Museum for starters. Let's count the artifacts there, they have looted. When the Prussians started to push the Germans back they took almost everything from the countries they marched trough. War is brutal and mindless. All war waging countries will loot & destroy. Growing up in eastern Europe I have a bit different opinion about WW2. I liked the archive footages, they were great. The narrator did a good job, but I liked it more with some real documentary firmness. Anyways, you should see the movie with an opened mind and make the judgment yourself after it.

As everyone in America retreats to their suburban mansions and the computer screens, it is a great experience to go out to the movies and see a film of real social import. If you love history and art, like I do, you certainly do not want to miss this film. The brutal effects of Nazi destruction never goes away, it keeps on coming, like a nightmare from the 20th century that we are all dreaming about. This film demonstrates the innate power of art. It shows, through a deep examination of the looting of Europe's treasures, what these works really meant to the countries who had them. And it reveals the utterly strange connection between the life of Hitler, failed art student, and the hellish destruction he unleashed on the world. In this season of filmic dreck at the mall, this strong documentary is definitely worth seeking out.