Comments on: Berlin Review: ‘Woman In Gold’ Starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl, Katie Holmes And More

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

This reviewer has an obvious bias against this movie, should it be up for an Academy award…… probably not. Because we\’re not as informed and as enlightened as she, we couldn\’t possibly begin to understand her main argument (which hints at ever so slightly) that great art should not be owned by an individual, that it exist solely for the State. Of course this is what got Germany into trouble to begin with. She references that Maria\’s family was "Extremely Wealthy" . News flash Jessica, if you lived in Vienna in the early 1900\’s there was a good chance that you were wealthy. I agree with previous comments with regard to the film not being graphic or horrific in a visual sence, I feel that it gave it a more accessible understanding of what they were going through. I also liked how it didn\’t detract from the betrayal at the hands of the people in Vienna.

By: zil

zil — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

just looking at him there i feel like ryan reynolds does not need an acting career. marginally talented at best, he\’s just taking up space that could be better occupied by underrepresented types. that he can\’t find his niche is indicative that the world doesn\’t really want him to have a niche. his face is not heroic. if anything he looks like a villain. he looks like the patriarchy. go away please ryan.

By: Tommi Trudeau

Tommi Trudeau — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I lived with Maria Altmann for almost four years up until her death in 2011. I can tell you with absolute certainty that it was NOT about the money! She sold the paintings because her legal bills were in the tens of millions of dollars. She never spent a dime of that money on herself; NOT A SINGLE DIME! She insisted on wearing clothes that were over 40 years old and being driven around in her 20 year old, beat up Ford Taurus with faded paint that we nicknamed the "Klimt-mobile".

By: Paul Goodridge

Paul Goodridge — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Dear oh dear Jessica Kiang, what a terrible, ignorant review. Please don\’t let your misguided views about art and history taint a pretty terrific film, as shown by the 10 minute standing ovation at the premiere in Berlin.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I agree with the above comment. What a terrible, ignorant, even hateful (at times) review. When I say hateful, I refer to the comment about the "skewing" middle class white people. This comment clearly shows her contempt for whoever she refers to in that sentence. Virtually everyone already knows how horrible the Holocaust was INTELLECTUALLY. No one but survivors can truly know, feel the horror. But, we don\’t need another portrayal of the gas chambers, piles of dead people in a film about art. I will see the film next week after general release and will see for myself if it treats history too lightly. People don\’t want history lessons in most movies. One Schindler\’s List is enough (it\’s a classic). When I read this review, I could feel an anti-white middle class, a predisposition toward disliking films like this and "Unbroken", and even some animosity toward Mrs. Altmann.

By: Hudson

Hudson — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I agree with the review, and I suspected as much simply based on the trailer. Reynolds comes across as smarmy and ineffectual all at once. I love this story, I would have liked to have seen it told in a way that wasn\’t so glossy and cloying. Maybe a documentary would have been a better way to go. And when someone loses a case like this, can\’t the winner demand that the loser pay their court costs? She shouldn\’t have needed to sell the painting to pay for her legal fees. And I suspect she could have made some sort of financial arrangement with a museum to pay her legal bills in exchange for allowing them to display the art work.

By: Elise

Elise — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I haven\’t seen the film yet. But reading this review did not make me think badly of the film so much as it made me feel disgust for the reviewer! As another commenter said, it felt \’hateful\’ and it made me very uncomfortable like when you innocently click a link and find yourself unexpectedly looking at something morally reprehensible. It spoke little about the actual movie and ranted on about Mrs. Altman herself. Not what I read reviews for and this will be the last time I bother with a Jessica Kiang review.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Jessica, you didn\’t like the film and maybe it\’s not any good (I haven\’t seen it), but your review comes across as ignorant and even anti-caucasian. You should have AT LEAST got the history right. As an art history student, I learned that Adele had it in her will that she wanted the painting to be donated to the Austrian State Gallery upon her husband\’s death, BUT she died in 1925, before the Nazis took over Austria and confiscated the paintings. Her husband fled to Switzerland and since he didn\’t want Austria to get the paintings for what it had done, he made his nieces and nephews, including Maria, inheritors of his estate. So the painting WAS rightfully Maria\’s! Get your history right! All of this information can be found on Wikipedia! Also, because you seem so ignorant on this subject, you need to watch the documentary The Rape of Europa. You should correct this inaccurate information in your review and also remove your anti-white middle class bias from it. At the very least you should apologize for such a poor and biased review.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Why did my last comment not post?

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Nevermind. It was hidden.

By: Curtis

Curtis — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I haven\’t even watched this movie but was curious why this review veered so far from the metacritic average. I can\’t recall a reviewer so desperate to appear intelligent. Drop the thesaurus and learn the difference between writing and communicating.

By: RT

RT — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

All of you having hissy fits need to take a seat. RottenTomatoes scores this film as Rotten, so learn to deal with it. Of the Top Critics, it only scores a 30, of all critics, a 49 so far with over 70 reviews, which means they\’re reached a consensus. Anything over 60 perecnt is considered Fresh, and this film doesn\’t earn that rating. A majority of the critics thought it stank. It\’s a badly made film, period. You can admire the subject matter and feel sorry for the people who suffered from the war, but that doesn\’t make this a good film. Deal with it and stop making these transparent attacks. We all know what you\’re going on about, but you\’re wrong this time.

By: leland blanchard

leland blanchard — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I nearly skipped this film based on reviews like JK\’s. She\’s not alone in trashing the film. I think many critics are displaying burnout when they complain it\’s so much like "Philomena," but not as well done. Really? In what ways? This is an engrossing film about a serious subject and I found it quite competently written, acted, and staged, with topnotch production values. I found it far more worthwhile than two recently well-reviewed films, "The Theory of Everything and "The Imitation Game,
," which struck me as being to slick and superficial. And I DON\’T think Ryan Reynolds gave a bad performance. It\’s simply not a showy part.

By: Prince Valiant

Prince Valiant — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Agree with Paul and Steve. The woman is insufferable and her reviews are biased and insulting in the extreme. One little note: Adele Block Bauer died in 1925 and the Nazi occupied Austria in 1938. Hence, one could assume that had she survived to witness the occupation and the horrors that ensued, she would certainly have changed her mind about wishing that the painting remain in Austria. And, ZIL, "the world (?) does not want him to have a niche" and "his face is not heroic". WTF? I suggest a hormonal treatment.

By: jean

jean — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Reviewers are jaded; viewers like the film, even love it. Please see the film and judge for yourselves. Reynolds and Mirren play off one another: young millennial learns history from elder who can\’t live with injustice of her memories. It\’s a great pairing. Never saw Reynolds act before, but he stands up to Mirren, who is one of world\’s best actors. I loved the film, and I do have taste, since I\’m a historian and I write professionally.

By: Harry Caul

Harry Caul — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

Judging for myself – as I\’ve been ordered to (thank you, Jean) – it is an awful film. At least the reviewer didn\’t have to sacrifice the ticket price to sit through it – although I suspect that is cold comfort for having to sit through it and then have to write it up.
My biggest problem with this film is that it hasn\’t one iota as to what it wants to be (there’s a really great story in there somewhere). I ended up feeling I’d been arm wrestling with Dan Brown for an hour and a half (Spoiler alert – ‘Dan’ wins and gets to write the movie and soundtrack).
I’m not a snob, I’m not jaded, and I’m not a film critic. I just know shit when I see it.
And seriously, it’s shit.

By: Rivka Deray

Rivka Deray — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I have just seen the film and it is beautiful. I rather wonder if this reviewer has seen more than a smattering of footage, and even then I wonder which part since I did not find any of the failings mentioned. I agree with Paul that this review reeks of ignorance, and I agree with Steve that this reviewer could barely contain her animosity toward the people portrayed. And to even try to disguise this behind "historical accuracy" is inexcusable.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

I agree with the above statements. It\’s almost as if you didn\’t pay attention to the movie at all.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 23 May 2016 04:13:58 +0000

What a hateful and irrational review, deriding and bias, and not even expressing whole facts. It clamors for outrage because Adele\’s will states that she wanted the painting to be displayed in that very Austrian museum? Was the reviewer asleep for Helen Mirren pointing out an obvious truth: that Adele would obviously have felt differently if she could have known the Austrian government was poised to destroy her family and steal their possessions? I say… And this is only one instance of the lack of logic displayed by the reviewer\’s determined and prejudiced bias skewing the subject matter.