Matt Damon for The Monuments Men

MATT DAMON ON “THE MONUMENTS MEN” AND HOW IT FELT LIKE IT’S AN “OCEANS” MOVIE

In September 2009, American writer and businessman Robert Edsel released “The Monuments Men,” a compelling account of a group of middle aged museum directors, curators and art historians tasked with going into Germany in the closing stages of World War II to try and rescue artworks requisitioned by the Nazis.

“The Monuments Men,” produced, directed and starred in by George Clooney along with a very impressive cast including Matt Damon, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Leonidas Dmitri, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett is set amidst a war that cost the lives of 65 million people when mankind’s cultural and artistic fingerprint is at risk of being destroyed.  Their small group of middle aged museum curators and artists and architects, called The Monuments Men, the most unlikely of spies, who volunteer to go into military service and try and save these things and ultimately recover them.

Matt Damon was one of the many to get the direct approach.  Damon further discusses in the following q&a of his involvement in the film and working with a great cast.

Dressing up a top tier ensemble in "The Monuments Men"

The major new film “The Monuments Men,” directed by George Clooney, tells the amazing and true story of a small group of men– curators, architects, artists, and art historians – who risked their lives to turn detective and track down the hidden caches of stolen art before Nazi fanatics carried out a plan to dynamite the lot when they realized the Third Reich was about to lose the war.

The film, starring Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman and Bill Murray, follows the Monuments Men (officially, the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA)) of the Allied army as they land on the Normandy beaches in search of the Nazis’ 1000 or more hidden art repositories – secreted in mines and remote castles within the Reich.

Award-wiining troupe assembled in “THE MONUMENTS MEN”

“The story of the Monuments Men is one that really very few people know,” says George Clooney, who returns to the director’s chair for the story of a small group of artists, art historians, architects, and museum curators who would lead the rescue of 1000 years of civilization during World War II in his new film, The Monuments Men.  “Artists, art dealers, architects – these were men that were far beyond the age that they were going to be drafted into a war or volunteer.  But they took on this adventure, because they had this belief that culture can be destroyed.  If they’d failed, it could have meant the loss of six million pieces of art. They weren’t going to let that happen – and the truth of the matter is, they pulled it off.”

Part of the drama of the film is that all of the Monuments Men are so unsuited to serving as soldiers in wartime.  “Wars are fought by 18-year-olds,” says Clooney.  “Once you get to the John Goodmans and the Bob Balabans and the George Clooneys, you know – these guys are not getting drafted.” Producing and writing partner Grant Heslov adds: “They did it because it was clear that they were the only people who could do it.”

2014’s Best Actress Frontrunner Cate Blanchett in “THE MONUMENTS MEN”

Cate Blanchett,  this year’s Best Actress winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (for her role in “Blue Jasmine”) and nominated at the 86^th Academy Awards (Oscars) stars in a sweeping true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history where she is the only woman among “The Monuments Men.”

Based on the real history chronicled in the non-fiction book “The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History” by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter,  “The Monuments Men” is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners.  The Monuments Men found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements. 

First look photos and the Untold story of "The Monuments Men" revealed

First look at "The Monuments Men"

A whole lot of art loot is at stake in the action-thriller “The Monuments Men” produced, directed and starred by George Clooney along with an all-star, high-caliber cast including Cate  Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman and Jean Dujardin.

Based on the non-fiction tome by Robert Edsel, “The Monuments Men” takes us back to World War II when Western Allies protect heritage sites at risk during the war and recover art treasures from the Nazis.