On Holy Thursday, once Mass is finished, there is a procession of the Host (that is the body of Jesus) from the Altar to a place of repose, usually a tabernacle in a chapel or some other designated area.  At my parish, it is in the community hall, and it is always surrounded by green plants, signifying the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus went to pray following the Last Supper, which that day’s service specifically commemorates.  As we walk the way to that place, we chant the lyrics, “Jesus, remember me, when You come into Your kingdom.”  It is fitting that we keep that event alive, not simply because it is the basis of our Faith.  That, along with us putting our Savior to death the next day on Good Friday, are terrible to behold but of incalculable benefit to us.  They cry out through the ages, begging us not to seek vengeance but to remember and love the God who would do this for us.  It is fitting and right to do so, and it is a lesson we should keep in mind when thinking about restitution for other crimes that have happened in the past two millennia.  Today’s film, Woman in Gold (2015), speaks to handling these occurrences in the proper way.

The person being buried at the beginning is not the Woman of Gold, but rather Maria Altmann’s (Helen Mirren) older sister.  Maria’s sibling’s effects have come to the younger sister.  As Maria looks through them, she is reminded of the eponymous painting, her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer (Antje Traue) being its subject.  Maria believes she might be able to get it back, but to do so she needs legal help.  Remembering that a longtime friend has a son, Randol “Randy” Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), who is a lawyer, Maria turns to him for assistance.  At first, he brushes off the request citing being between jobs and unable to take on pro bono work after starting with a new law firm, but he eventually relents and takes a look at Maria’s documents.  Now, the movie jumps between a few time periods, so I am going to explain all the flashbacks at once in order to contextualize the court proceedings he initiates.  Maria had been born in Vienna, Austria, and Aunt Adele doted on her and her sister since she did not have children of her own.  Aunt Adele also died young, but before doing so, she had famed Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (Moritz Bleibtreu) paint her.  Though it seemed sad at the time, Aunt Adele passed away before Maria had grown into a young woman (Tatiana Maslany) and thus is not on hand to celebrate her marriage to Fredrick “Fritz” Altmann (Max Irons).  I put the qualifier at the beginning of the last sentence because their nuptials occur just on the eve of the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.  As the Third Reich takes control of the Austrian capital, Jewish families like Maria’s are increasingly terrorized.  As they watch all their valuables, including the Klimt painting, be stripped from their home, Fritz and Maria make the difficult decision to escape with her parents’ blessing.  They are nearly caught in doing so, but they make it to the United States, only to hear upon arrival of her parents being sent away by the Nazis.  This last point is important because as Randy begins to build his case, it becomes evident that they will need to head to Europe.  Maria had not been back in roughly fifty years and had vowed to never return.  What overcomes this desire is a sense of injustice done to her not only by the Germans, by the Austrians who had collaborated with the invaders from the north.  Once in Vienna, they are contacted by Hubertus Czernin (Daniel Brühl), an Austrian investigative journalist who has been looking into other works of art stolen by the Nazis.  He warns of how difficult is Altmann’s case since the title piece is considered a national symbol of Austria.  Nonetheless, he has a connection in the Belvedere’s (the museum where the painting is on display) archives.  Maria and Randy begin their search there, looking for documentation in the form of a will from Aunt Adele that Maria is sure will prove that the painting was meant to stay with the family.  The testament is found, but it does, in fact, say that “Woman in Gold” should go to the Belvedere.  However, there is a caveat in that the painting never belonged to Aunt Adele, meaning it was not hers to give away.  Instead, it was the property of Gustav Bloch (Allan Corduner), Maria’s father, and he had left everything to his children.  Despite this evidence, the museum remains intractable in releasing the work to Maria, fighting her at every step.  Feeling blocked, Maria and Randy return to the United States.  What keeps Randy fighting is his visit to Vienna where he had gotten in touch with his own Jewish roots.  He is convinced that he has right on his side, so much so that he quits his new job despite his wife, Pam Schoenberg (Katie Holmes), being pregnant with their second child.  Even Maria is feeling defeated, but is carried by his forcefulness.  To proceed, he begins filing motions to take the government of Austria to court on the matter.  This has the appearance of being a threat to international relations, but the matter is referred all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.  Upon winning there, too, Maria and Randy offer representatives from the Belvedere the opportunity to admit they are wrong and pay restitution.  Again, they refuse, and the matter is taken to arbitration back in Vienna.  Because of Maria’s belief that the Austrians are against her, she does not wish to go back, meaning Randy must do this alone.  Inevitably, though, she changes her mind and is on hand to see him win her case.  With victory comes a healing of old wounds, particularly as she visits her old home, which is now an office building.

The addressing of those wounds is the primary focus of Woman in Gold.  In returning to the Catholic analog to what I addressed in the introduction, the death of He who was, and is, the only truly innocent person to ever live would seem to cry out for revenge.  The same can be said for the Holocaust, of which Maria and her family are victims.  Further, one could argue that her and Randy’s quest is not only about getting even, but enriching themselves by regaining works of art worth millions.  When it comes to Jesus, there is nothing we could do to pay restitution for what we did to Him.  That is why He does not ask it of us because it is impossible.  The only fitting repayment we can give Him is our love, and as much of that as we are able to muster.  I purposely used that word “restitution” a moment ago.  It is one that is repeated a few times throughout the film.  At one point, Randy defines the word as a return of something to its original state.  Usually this refers to giving back something improperly taken from another.  The definition is used as part of his arguments for resolving the painting stolen from Maria’s family.  He emphasizes his point by stating that it is right to be reunited with what is originally ours.  This statement strongly appealed to my Catholic senses.  What we are seeing play out is a broken person being made whole again through a just act.  I do not mean to cast her in the role of Jesus walking the way to Calvary, nor Randy for that matter, despite their sufferings.  Nonetheless, I use the image of Jesus’ Passion to underscore what He accomplished by dying for our sins.  He remediated the sins of mankind and forged a new Covenant, throwing open the gates to Heaven to all who repent and believe in Him.  What Maria and Randy accomplish is infinitely more valuable than priceless pieces of art.  It is about Maria, and Randy to a lesser degree, being at peace with the past.  To underscore this, the only time you hear her speak German is after the final hearing in Vienna when she finally gets back her family’s property.  Yet, she came back for family and friends, not necessarily for the material items, which she ended up donating anyway.  When we receive these healings, as Jesus does for us Catholics in Confession, for example, we are called upon not only to leave our guilt at the foot of the Cross (or behind us as Maria does), but to move forward a new person in Christ.

In briefly glancing at some of what the critics say about Woman in Gold, the main knock against it seems to be that they think its boring.  I categorically disagree with this sentiment.  Any movie that has me on the verge of tears like when Maria reminisces about her wedding day at the end is going to get my approval.  For this, and because of all I have said about it, I fully recommend this one.