The Last Vermeer

[Paul Heroy]

Watched this last weekend and enjoyed it a lot.

Synopsis: In the immediate aftermath of WWII, paintings by legendary Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer are unearthed in Nazi stolen art stockpiles. The provenance of one particular painting, "Christ with the Adulteress", brings attention because it was sold to Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring for a then record price of 1.6M gilders. The investigator traces the sale back to a man named Han van Meegeren, who is seen to be living in a luxurious home. What was his involvement, and did he collaborate with the Nazis in trading art and possibly other information for personal gain? Was the painting stolen from a Jewish family? The ensuing investigation and trial reveal quite a bit about how perspectives can change as information is revealed.

Like most historical films, if you read up on the historical record it doesn't adhere to the facts as closely as one might like, but it's done in a way that I felt was both entertaining and illuminating. One of the things I liked about the movie is how it showed the very subjective nature of art and its value, and also of how "truth" can be a bit more slippery and gray than than we wish it were. Guy Ritchie gives a flamboyant and humorous performance as the charlatan - or genius, depending on your viewpoint - at the center of it all.


Definite thumbs up for me.

[David Vaughn]

This does look good. Did you buy the disc or stream it? If streamed, what service did you use and was there a charge?

[DLCPhoto]

This does look good. Did you buy the disc or stream it? If streamed, what service did you use and was there a charge?

On this, I just thought I'd mention a very useful website I came across a while back:

Just Watch

You just type in the name of a movie, and it shows which streaming services have it, what resolution, what charge for rent, buy, etc.  It really comes in handy!

[Paul Heroy]

It was the iTunes movie of the week for .99, so we rented it. We usually check the .99 weekly special to see if there's anything of interest. Less than 50% are but this one was a gem.

JustWatch is very useful, I check it frequently for series & movies to see if something is free or on sale somewhere. With so many streaming options you need something like this.