Many thanks to Women In Journalism for holding a screening of new film Woman In Gold – and to Lynne, for letting me go and see it instead of her. But hold on a second, Kady, I hear nobody cry. Why is Funny Women reviewing a movie that isn’t funny? Are you going to make jokes about the Holocaust? Yikes, of course not.
The plot certainly isn’t anything to joke about. The niece (played by Helen Mirren) of the woman immortalised in Gustav Klimt’s painting ‘Woman In Gold’ wants the artwork back. It was stolen by the Nazis when they invaded Austria. She enlists the help of her friend’s son, a struggling lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) and together they take on the Austrian government.
I don’t want to spoil it any more than that, but as the film is based on a true story you can probably look up how things end. It’s a very interesting story, one that seems almost made for the Hollywood treatment.
To an extent, Woman In Gold is about one woman being laughed at for all the wrong reasons. It’s incomparable to having a bad night on stage, obviously, but at a base level it struck a chord.
There are some moments of humour, and I think with such a sensitive subject the film needed them. It broke the tension. The flashbacks to wartime didn’t sugar-coat the reality of what happened to Jewish people back then.
It’s a fairly short film by Hollywood blockbuster standards, even with the flashbacks. If you’re thinking about seeing Woman In Gold, I’d say go. Helen Mirren’s performance is incredibly moving, and you’ll get a quick history lesson at the same time.
