Identity and culture are rarely the focus of big Hollywood films. But this Hollywood norm didn’t affect director Simon Curtis’ decision to make a movie out of a documentary he’d seen on BBC one night.
“I had seen (‘Stealing Klimt’) and thought there was a great movie in this,” Curtis said.
Curtis’ film, “Woman in Gold” is based on the true story of Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) as she tries to regain possession over several paintings stolen from her family by the Nazis during the Holocaust. With the help of newcomer lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), Altmann not only fights to win back the rights to the paintings but also is able to reconcile with her past. After devoting much of his time to the case, the experience is also significant for Schoenberg, who comes to embrace his Austrian culture and gain confidence as a lawyer.
Although the film encompasses many historical events, Curtis believes the film is about something much larger than simply the story of a Holocaust survivor.
“I think one of the themes of the films is (that) we mustn’t forget,” he said. “(Maria) says at one point ‘People forget, especially the young.’ (This film is) a very tiny reminder now of the terrible things that happened in the last century that we shouldn’t forget.”
Because the film was based off of a true story, Curtis faced some obstacles during the preproduction of the film. There were many hours of research and details that needed to be settled before the actual production of the film.
“When you’re making films like this you need to (immerse) yourself in all of the history and all of the research,” Curtis said. “Then you have to make the movie and you have to make the movie entertaining and work, or at least try to. So it’s a balancing act.”
In order to keep the film as legitimate as possible, Curtis and the production team looked to Schoenberg for more information.
“Maria passed in 2011 … but Randy was a big part of the production so I got to spend a lot of time with him,” he said. “He read the script, he was on the set a couple of days and he’s been helping promote it. He was very supportive.”
Mirren and Reynolds lead the film and it is their characters dynamic relationship that gives the film personality and humor. With the film riding on the relationship of both actors, Curtis was glad that they clicked early on.
“(Working with Mirren and Reynolds) was great, fortunately they really liked each other from day one so there was a really good chemistry that was both on camera and off camera … They really enjoyed working together so that helped us a great deal.”
Curtis hopes this film will get the audience thinking about where they come from and their roots just like Altmann and Schoenberg did.
“I want (the audience) to be entertained,” Curtis said. “I want people to enjoy it (but also) then to think about their own history.”
“Woman in Gold” is in theaters now.
