James Lovers of the art that is film sometimes tend (or even wish) to play down the irreducible fact that "having a good story to tell" is part of the deal.In "Woman in Gold" from British Director Simon Curtis, the story resembles that of several family histories present in the superb genealogy documentary "Who do You Think You Are?" in that we move backwards and forwards - in just a step or two - from the world we know (Los Angeles and Vienna in the 1990s and early 2000s) to the world of a 1938 Austria in which people line the streets to welcome and cheer on Hitler's Anschluss and watch enthusiastically as poor Jews in the streets have their pigtails and beards cut off for humiliation purposes.And, while much of the Fuhrer's Berlin was pounded to rubble, in parts of Vienna you actually can go back to blocks of flats once inhabited by Jewish people the Nazis exterminated.Here a splendid Helen Mirren portrays Maria Altmann, who could also (though was in fact phobically reluctant to) go back to her childhood home in Vienna seized without mercy and never returned. At an early stage, Mirren's Altmann reminds us that 50 years is not actually that long a period...In fact, Maria's life stood out just a little from those of celebrities featured in "Who do You Think You Are?" in that she was among several members of her family to survive the Holocaust - as opposed to the typical situation of being the only one, or at least a descendant of the only one. While Jews rich and poor died, Maria's family had been very well-to-do, and her sugar-manufacturing uncle was astute and influential enough to get out of Vienna quickly. But naturally enough, he had limited capacity to take away property including the titular subject of this movie, the Gustav Klimt painting of Maria's Aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer, which the Austrian state "acquired" smoothly enough post-War (as the country began the process of portraying itself as a victim of Hitler's aggression); this work of art resembling so many others in having been stolen by the Nazis from Jews they were about to cart off and kill.Ironically, perhaps, Klimt was not a particular favourite for the Nazis, being regarded as at least semi-"degenerate". Had it been fully so the painting might have been summarily destroyed. Equally, had it been fully acceptable, it would doubtless have left Vienna for the Fatherland rapidly enough, as did several other treasures of Maria's family.And so to the main story, in which Ryan Reynolds plays lawyer Randy Schoenberg - a junior branch of a family also in Maria's circle of Austrian-Jewish escapees, and in fact a grandson of the famous Arnold - a composer unreservedly deemed "degenerate" by the Nazis, who escaped to the US as early as in 1934, only dying in LA in 1951.In the film - as in life - it is Randy's job to persuade the Austrian authorities - and above all people - that art acquired in the above way cannot in good conscience go on hanging on the walls of the Belvedere Gallery as "Austria's Mona Lisa".Sounds reasonable enough, right? Well, in fact, Maria and Randy had a 6-year legal battle on their hands which faced stubborn resistance from Austria. Revindication had only come on to the agenda at all thanks to a 1998 Act pushed for by Nazi-hunter journalist Hubertus Czernin - as superbly played in the film by Daniel Bruhl.It would be easy to imagine that a story of this kind cannot be messed up in film form, but that would be too optimistic. Many such films are indeed messed up, for example by caricature good guys and bad guys speaking English "viz a strong Jarman exent". Here authentic German is resorted to and everything looks and feels right (which in the context of the story sometimes means "very wrong"). Mirren does her job well, naturally, but her pairing with Reynolds is excellent and the development of Maria and Randy's relationship also a joy. When Bruhl joins them from time to time it just gets even better.On the whole, the film is also understated, which here is good. But it gives us a hint of the richness of the Jewish culture in old Vienna - most especially when Maria's wedding is portrayed - and this is as fascinating as it is moving and tragic, given the infinite evil soon deployed against it.In essence, then, a remarkable and important story recreated perfectly.It's a story all need to know, with an ending of victory and a hint of happiness, albeit muted - as Mirren's Altmann makes clear. But this educational process is also a great cinematic experience - a must-watch indeed.

clewis2666 As one or two other non-professional reviewers have said, I just don't understand the many negative reviews from the professionals. As a Jew, I found the film totally gripping and beautifully done in every way. The film is grounded in the Holocaust and faithfully portrays the vicious treatment of Jews by the Austrian people as well as the Nazis. The later intransigent attitude of the Austrian authorities who will do anything to hang on to the stolen painting should come as no surprise. Austria has never admitted its culpability in the Nazi atrocities and never will, unlike Germany.I have substantial doubts about the sensitivity of these negative reviewers to the plight of the Jews at that time. Their childish complaint seems to be that the film isn't exciting enough and is schmaltzy. I found it gripping and truthful.

rogerdarlington The lady in question is Adele Bloch-Bauer who was the subject of a magnificent painting, deploying lots of gold, by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. Following the Anschuss of 1938 when Germany took over Austria, this painting was one of many, many artefacts seized by the Nazis from Jewish families in occupied Europe.The film tells the story - a little fictionalised - of Adele's niece Maria Altmann who escaped from Vienna to live in California and, during the 1980s as an octogenarian, pursued an audacious claim to take back this painting and other Klimt works from the Austrian Government. Helen Mirren is brilliant as Altmann in another distinguished performance in a sparkling career during which she has played everything from "The Queen" to an assassin (RED"), while Ryan Reynolds is surprisingly good as her lawyer Randy Schoenberg in a role a million miles from "Green Lantern" or "Deadpool".There's a lot going on in this film: legal battles over the art work with some classic courtroom scenes, flashbacks (in sepia colours) to Altmann's earlier life in 1930s Vienna, and an evolving relationship between the irascible Altmann and the idealistic Schoenberg, both descendants of famous Austrians. This is not the kind of film that was ever going to be a major box office draw but it is certainly worth a home viewing.

snsh This movie is based on the ideal example of post-Nazi artwork recovery. The valuable piece of art was not just collected by the Jewish family, but was personally commissioned by them, and is a cherished painting of a family member.The movie goes on to tell a heartwarming non-linear story about the attempts to recover the painting and the tragic history of the family leading up to its seizure. The film does a great job of that. SPOILER ALERT Where the movie and the premise falls apart is the last line, right before the credits. The painting is taken from the country which has grown to love it and reunited with its rightful owner who... immediately sells it.That pretty much ruined the movie for me. The main characters claim to not be doing it for the money, but ultimately they take the money.This movie belongs on HGTV between show about international house flippers.