The Last Vermeer

"The Last Vermeer" paints an intelligent, intriguing picture of World War II involving art, Nazis and an unlikely Dutch hero. Dan Friedkin's directorial debut manages to deliver a thriller while offering instruction on the art of Johannes Vermeer. Guy Pearce stars and gives a work of art performance as the flamboyant Han van Meegeren, a Dutch painter, art dealer and enigma who became famous for selling a rare Vermeer to Hitler's second in command, Hermann Göring. This act led Meegeren to be tried in 1945 as a war criminal. Captain Joseph Piller, played by actor Claes Bang, is the former Dutch Resistance officer who believes Meegeren's innocence, helping and defending him in court. The screenplay, written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby (writers of 2007's "First Snow," also starring Guy Pearce) & John Orloff, is based on an adaptation of Jonathan Lopez's, "The Man Who Made Vermeers."

Guy Pearce plays snotty Han Van Meegeren, a self-proclaimed master forger who managed to sell a fake Vermeer nonetheless to the despicable Herman Göring, war criminal and notorious thief of works of art.

In a bid to acquire a better collection than Hitler himself, Göring actually paid for this canvas, also because he couldn't have stolen it, being presented by Van Meegeren as a private possession unknown to the world of fine arts at large.

At the end of the war, Van Meeger ended up in trouble as a collaborationist and managed to escape capital punishment only by proving he was a forger.

The movie is largely fictional and about the Jewish Captain Joseph Piller pursuing Van Meegerer first and then protecting him so that he could prove the Vermeer was a fake.

The movie is well made and entertaining, despite the fictional liberties it takes, but after all, it is not a documentary.

Most of the main characters were real people and much of the story line is authentic, however a number of things were changed for movie-making reasons.

It is 1945 and teams of allies are looking for artwork stolen by the Germans, with the goal of returning them to their rightful owners. The hunt leads them to Dutch painter, Guy Pearce as Han Van Meegeren, who it seems might have been a Nazi sympathizer. His name came up in the trail for one of the paintings which might have been the last Vermeer from the 1600s.

Pearce s really good in his role, as are the other actors. The story moves along deliberately most of the time but that is good, it is a good story to tell.

I watched it at home on DVD from my public library, my wife skipped.

The story takes a turn from a wartime story to a court room drama. Both parts equally interest me. I enjoyed it.

Interesting and intriguing story of post ww2 society in Holland .

Great acting but Pearce and others . Directed and beautifully filmed .

If you like historical dramas I would recommend this movie .