“Woman in Gold” was also a Woman with a “Will” (Or Maybe Not)

Have you seen the movie Woman in Gold?  Lots here for lawyers, law professors, and students to discuss — which may be why reviewers often seem to mention the movie is, hmm, a tad slow moving.  There is nothing like watching a lawyer research in dusty libraries to frustrate a significant percentage of the viewing public waiting for the next explosion or car crash.

At the heart of the movie version of the tale  is a document, relied on by Viennese authorities as their provenance for a renowned painting’s “rightful” place in Austria.  Is it or isn’t it a “will” executed by Adele Bloch-Bauer? She was the subject of Gustav Klimt’s shimmering painting, and the question is whether the document controls the ultimate fate of the painting. Helen Mirren is her usual marvelous self, portraying the 80+ year-old niece of Adele and a member of a Jewish family targeted by Nazi hatred.

Here’s a nice follow-up to the movie story, courtesy of the New York Times, Patricia Cohen’s The Story Behind ‘Woman in Gold’: Nazi Art Thieves and One Painting’s Return.