The Rape of Europa
Capsule by Jonathan Rosenbaum From the Chicago Reader
Based on a book by Lynn H. Nicholas, this fascinating film documents the plundering and destruction of art during World War II; the moving and hiding of art, precautionary and otherwise, that were sometimes carried out on a massive scale (such as the Louvre being virtually emptied ahead of the German invasion, and preparations made by residents of Florence prior to the Allied bombing); and subsequent heroic acts of recovery. Part of the history lesson being conveyed here is how different the cultural climate was back then: Hitler and Göring, far from declaring that "stuff happens," were so passionate about stealing and hoarding cultural treasures that as many as a fifth of Europe's artworks were displaced. Filmmakers Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham do a superb job of telling this neglected story in vivid detail. 117 min.
