The Rape of Europa (2006)

The story of Nazi Germany's plundering of Europe's great works of art during World War II and Allied efforts to minimize the damage.

Directors:

Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen

Writers:

Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen

Stars:

Joan Allen, E. Randol Schoenberg, Maria Altmann

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Allen	...	Narrator (voice)
E. Randol Schoenberg	...	Himself
Maria Altmann	...	Herself
Wolfgang Fischer	...	Himself
Jonathan Petropoulos	...	Himself
Kenneth Lindsay	...	Himself
Lynn Nicholas	...	Herself
Nancy Yeide	...	Herself
Gottfried Toman	...	Himself
S. Laine Faison	...	Himself
Andrej Kamienski	...	Himself
Maria Osterwa Czekaj	...	Herself
Monika Kuhnke	...	Herself
Count Adam Zamoyski	...	Himself
Vincent Pomarède	...	Himself

Storyline

THE RAPE OF EUROPA takes the audience on a journey through seven countries telling a story of greed and warfare that threatened the artistic heritage of Europe. For twelve years, the Nazis looted and destroyed art. Young art historians and curators from America and across Europe fought back, mounting a campaign to rescue and return countless art works displaced by the war. Joan Allen narrates this chronicle about the battle over centuries of western culture.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | plundering | nazi germany | monuments men | post world war two | 

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Taglines:

Imagine The World Without Our Masterpieces

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Genres:

Documentary | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Polish German French Italian

Release Date:

12 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Похищение Европы

Filming Locations:

Bad Aussee, Steiermark, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Actual Films, Agon Arts and Entertainent, Oregon Public Broadcasting

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (35 mm version) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Monuments Men (2014)

User Reviews

Giving Documentaries a Good Name

I have just returned from this film and am another satisfied customer. It always feels a bit strange going to the cinema to see a documentary, but docs always turn out to be so much better and more fulfilling than the blockbusters. A real whirlwind of emotions, the Rape of Europa is something in which everyone living in the western world has a stake. The destructive force of war on human beings and those things which are crucial to our humanity, our art, is put into a perspective that is about as balanced as we can hope to get. Many positive things I would say have already been said, so I will offer one criticism: the city of Dresden, once called the "Florence on the Elbe," was not mentioned in the film. As perhaps the worst bombed city of the war, and a city which had no military value whatsoever but was of incalculable worth culturally, I felt this was a major omission. Of course, the film covered an amazing amount of ground, and the Dresden bombing remains a touchy subject for many, so I can comprehend the constraints of time and the need to avoid charged tangents. However, as someone who has lived in that city (many parts of which remained ruins until only recently), I still would have liked to have heard it mentioned. That said, the film was wonderful on a whole. If only everything they showed in the cinemas were half as good.