The Last Vermeer Movie Review

The Last Vermeer Movie Review
by Myla Tosatto

As the autumn leaves turn color as they fall to the ground and the chill wind whips across your masked face, one often turns to arthouse movies. Amirite? Of course I’m right! Even if not all fall movies are destined to be Oscar favorites- we still want glorious period pieces with detailed costumes and sweeping stories at this time of year. And if the films are World War II pieces? Well, that’s like shooting Oscar fish in a barrel.

The Last Vermeer has all of that plus the lovely Claes Bang as Captain Joseph Piller, a Dutch officer tasked with guarding the oddly charismatic Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce), an accused Nazi sympathizer.

Without giving away all of the plot, I’ll just say that this movie has everything: art forgery, Nazis, lovable scamps, questionable morals, war profiteering, courtroom hijinks, spunky one liners, money laundering, feisty lawyers, champagne flutes, and yes, art. Specifically, it has Vermeer’s paintings. The movie revolves around the titular painting, which is The Christ and The Adulteress.

The Last Vermeer Movie Official Trailer: 

Dan Freidkin directed the film based off the biography of van Meegeren written by Jonathan Lopez. John Orloff, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby wrote the screenplay. The movie is based on the true story of van Meegeren, possibly the most famous (and successful?) art forger in the world. He became a Dutch hero for how he portrayed himself in dealing with the Nazis. The movie takes a remarkably interesting look at van Meegeren. I bet the book is a ripper as well!

It is a fascinating story and well worth seeing. The viewer gets to see a delightful movie, PLUS the viewers get an art history lesson!

The Last Vermeer Movie comes out this Friday! If you liked this review be sure to check out our top movie quotes!