LindsayJaffe

Mrs.Lucarelli
HonorsModernWorldHistory
15January2016
TheMonumentsMenisamoviebasedofftrueeventsthathappenedduringWorldWarII
in1943.ThemenaresenttorescueageoldmasterpiecesthattheNazisstolefrominnocent
peopleandmuseums.Oneprofessor,FrankStokes,learnedthatHitlerwasdoingthistocreate
hisownpersonalmuseum.WithpermissionfrompresidentRoosevelt,Stokesrecruitssixmento
recoverthestolenart(IMDb2).Thisisarevolutionbecauseduringthistimepeoplewerefurious
aboutthewargoingonsotheyactedout.Ofcourse,thegovernment,thePresidentaside,was
behindalltheheinouscrimessotheycouldnothelpthepeopleofGermany.PresidentRoosevelt
agreedthiswouldbetheirbestchancetobringsomepaintingsbackhome.Theyformallieswith
differentcountriesthatbelieveHitlerisextremelywrongindoingwhathesdoing(Carvalho1).
Citizensarguedandarguedoverhowthepaintingshouldbeobtained,butthegovernmentand
Hitlerstillfoundawaytokeepthemquiet.Throughoutthecourseoftimetryingtodiscovernew
magnumopussomecharactersinthemoviewerekilled(Sony1).Hitlerandthenazisknewthey
wouldbesearchingfortheartworkssotheysabotagedTheMonumentsMen,resultingin
manydeaths.Thereweredifferentsceneswherethemenhadtoendureseveralobstaclestofind
evenonepainting.WediscoverthatEvenastheteamlearnsthattheartworkisbeingstoredin
variousminesandcastles,theyalsolearnthattheymustnowcompeteagainsttheSovietUnion
whichhasunitsofitsownseizingartworkaswarreparations(imdbnog1).Towardstheend
Stokesreportsbackthathisteamrecoveredvastquantitiesoftheartandmultipleotheritemsof

significantvalue.HeispleasedtotellthecurrentPresidentatthetime,Truman,thatallefforts
andallliveslostwereworthitbecauseeverysecond,theyweresavingapieceofhistory.Asa
whole,mostofthesocietycouldnowrelaxpeacefullyandbenefitfromtheretrievaloftheart.At
theendtheelderlyStokestakeshisgrandsontoseeMichelangelo'sMadonnasculpture,amid
largecrowdsofyouthappreciatingthepiecesofhumanityscreativitythathismensacrificedso
muchtopreserveinwar(imdbnog1).TheMonumentsMendiedtosavehistoryandthismovie
allowsustohonorthemwhilerealizingtheimportanceofwhattheydid.