History Film / TheMonumentsMen

** This isn't the first time Matt Damon has been part of [[Film/SavinfPrivateRyan a special WWII mission that questions the value of human lives.]]
** This is also not the first time Clooney has [[Film/TheThreeKings stumbled upon gold while serving in a war]].

** Claire Simone is based on Rose Valland, and while she and Rorimer did indeed work closely together, the romantic subplot was made up for the movie. Donald Beffries was based on Ronald Balfour, who was indeed killed, but in different circumstances unconnected to the Madonna of Bruges.

** Several names and personalities were changed and one character- the Frenchman Jean Claude Clermont- outright made up for the movie. [[spoiler: Which slightly undermines the impact of his death]].

** Stout was not directly involved with the creation of the Monuments Men, although his efforts to preserve the art of occupied Europe had been an important inspiration as he had proposed something similar ''prior'' to 1943, before invasion was even an issue.

** The Germans did not destroy the art held in the mines. The Nero Decree did not mention archives or art at all. In fact Hitler specifically order that all art be left to German museums. While the Germans did destroy some art, it was all art they considered "degenerate" and which does not cover most of the art depicted in the film (though Picassos' were indeed on the list), and the mines were reserved for art they intended to keep. The Ghent Altarpiece Hitler actually considered an example of "Aryan genius". In addition, there is little evidence that the Monuments Men knew of the Decree.

** The Germans did not destroy the art held in the mines. The Nero Decree did not mention archives or art at all. In fact Hitler specifically order that all art be left to German museums. While the Germans did destroy some art, it was all art they considered "degenerate" and which does not cover most of the art depicted in the film (though Picasso's were indeed on the list), and the mines were reserved for art they intended to keep. The Ghent Altarpiece Hitler actually considered an example of "Aryan genius". In addition, there is little evidence that the Monuments Men knew of the Decree.

*** In the film he gives a lecture to Roosevelt and identifies a work by "Da Vinci", rather than Leonardo. This is a classic post-''TheDaVinciCode'' mistake that '''no''' art historian- and certainly none living in the 1940's- would have made. The ''name'' of the artist was Leonardo and he ''was born'' in the torn of Vinci- Leonardo Da Vinci means "Leonardo, of Vinci".

* GenreBlindness: [[spoiler: Jean Claude]] is this when he stops the car to pet that horse [[spoiler: are there's a group of enemy soldiers hiding in the undergrowth]].

** Several names and personalities were changed and one character outright- the Frenchman Jean Claude Clermont- made up for the movie. [[spoiler: Which slightly undermines the impact of his death]].

** The Nero Decree did not specify that art should be destroyed. In fact he specifically order that it be left to German museums. While the Germans did destroy art, it was all art they considered "degenerate" and not most of the art depicted in the film (though Picasso's were indeed on the list). The Ghent Altarpiece Hitler actually considered an example of "Aryan genius". In addition, there is little evidence that the Monuments Men knew of the Decree.

* HollywoodHistory: The movie is a fairly BroadStrokes presentation of the war and the Monuments Men project, which in real life was composed of far more than just eight men.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Subverted, it is noted that the Russians are seizing the art they recover as reparations for the 20 million men they have lost in the war, and this loss is treated with decent gravity.

* SmugSnake: Stahl, making his after fall all the more glorious.
* TakingYouWithMe: The Men learn of the Nero Degree to destroy everything if Hitler dies or Nazi Germany falls and they must find the art before that happens.

* VitrolicBestBuds: Campbell and Savitz. They constantly taunt and grate one another, but by the end of the film, they've shared so much they can't help but like one another.

The story involves the adventures of the US Army's WorldWarII Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, aka "The Monuments Men." They were a collection of various art experts who were tasked to minimize damage to works of art and fine architecture during combat and to find and recover as many as possible pieces of art stolen by the Nazis in their conquest of Europe.

* BrokenBird: Claire is clearly traumetized by not only the occupation of her city and her museum by the Nazis but the recent death of her brother. Most of the job with her is just getting her to understand that the Monuments Men will ''return'' the stolen art and not merely take it for themselves like the Russians are.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: The CoolAndUnusualPunishment Stokes has for the Nazi Officer who was destroying art and running a Death Camp: that he will have a smoke, and remember it when he is back in New York City on an perfectly ordinary day reading the tiny newspaper sidebar story about the Nazi being executed for war crimes, and never think of the CompleteMonster again.

* DirtyCommunists: The Monument Men soon find them their other adversaries considering they are looking for art to keep for themselves. However, the Men do admit that after all the horrors the Russians suffered in the war, they can't blame them for a bit of payback from the Germans in taking their art in revenge.
** In the scene where we see them seizing the art, they do at least treat it with care, the soldiers being warned to only hande the frames since the paintings are irreplaceable.
* HollywoodHistory

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Monuments Men accidentally stumble upon Germany's gold reserves while searching for stolen art, but in the film it's treated as just something that happened that seemed irrelevant to their primary mission. In RealLife, though, this accidental discovery did more to end the war than almost any soldiering on the part of any of the Allies: the world was still on the gold standard, and when word got out that there was nothing backing the deutchemark, the Third Reich had no way to continue to fund their war effort, and the ''Wehrmacht'' fell apart very quickly after that. ''That'' is why Generals DwightDEisenhower, George S. Patton and Omar Bradley are getting their picture taken.

* RaceAgainstTheClock: The final seizure has the Russians coming in since the territory has been ceded to them, despite the Monuments Men only just finding a piece of art one of their men earlier died for. They only just get it out, thanks to a bruning wreck on the road delaying the Russians.

* SmugSnake: Schtal, making his after fall all the more glorious.

* WorldWarII

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: The Monuments Men accidentally stumble upon Germany's gold reserves while searching for stolen art, but in the film it's treated as just something that happened that seemed irrelevant to their primary mission. In RealLife, though, this accidental discovery did more to end the war than almost any soldiering on the part of any of the Allies: the world was still on the gold standard, and when word got out that there was nothing backing the deutchemark, the Third Reich had no way to continue to fund their war effort, and the ''Wehrmacht'' fell apart very quickly after that. ''That'' is why Generals DwightDEisenhower, GeorgeSPatton and OmarBradley are getting their picture taken.

* CulturedWarrior: The Monuments Men are recruited precisely because they are cultured, while the Nazis like they are this trope for real, even though they are just a bunch of thieving military brutes.

* CulturedWarriors: The Monuments Men are recruited precisely because they are cultured, while the Nazis like they are this trope for real, even though they are just a bunch of thieving military brutes.

The story involves the adventures of the US Army's Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, aka "The Monuments Men." They were a collection of various art experts who were tasked to minimize damage to works of art and fine architecture during combat and to find and recover as many as possible pieces of art stolen by the Nazis in their conquest of Europe.

To that task, Lt. Frank Stokes assembles an elite team of experts to accomplish this mission. However, they find their complicated by their own combat units who hardly see the point of risking their own lives being delicate around art, the Nazis determined to keep their loot or destroy it if they are defeated. Furthermore, they have to deep natives like French curator Claire Simone who suspect the US wants to steal the art for themselves and the Soviets who definitely want to do that as reparations for the horrors they have suffered in that war.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: The CoolAndUnusualPunishment Stokes has for the Nazi Officer who was destroying art and running a Death Camp: that he will have a smoke, and remember it when he is back in New York City on an perfectly ordinary day reading the tiny newspaper sidebar story about the Nazi being execute for war crimes, and never think of the CompleteMonster again.

'''''The Monuments Men''''' is a 2014 WarFilm directed by Creator/GeorgeClooney and starring himself, Creator/MattDamon, Creator/BillMurray, Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/JeanDujardin, Creator/BobBalaban, Creator/HughBonneville, and Creator/CateBlanchett. It based on the history book ''The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History'' by Robert M. Edsel.