Hitler Versus Picasso
Image: Berchtesgaden liberation and recovery of the Goering collection by the 101st Aiirbone Division. Courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration
In an interview around the time of the Second World War, Picasso had allegedly told a reporter, “Painting is not done to decorate apartments, it is an instrument of war for attack and defend against the enemy.” Hitler Versus Picasso is pretty much a summation of that thought.
It’s a movie describing Hitler’s love for painting, art and sculpture, featuring numerous interviews that include scholars and at one point Hitler’s neighbour. The movie is slow paced, yet informatively detailing the events that unfolded due to one man’s obsession with art. Narrated by Toni Servillo, the movie describes how one man’s regime was obsessed with power and that acquiring art satisfied that urge. Mainstream Hollywood sometime ago did a more corny version of this era of art lost and found starring George Clooney called The Monuments Men.
Not sure if this will be everyone’s cup of tea, but history buffs and art aficionados should lap it up.
★★1/2
Reviewed by Joseph Rana
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