The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 3, 2021

There's obviously some love for Dutch Artist Johannes Vermeer over at Sony Pictures. Several years ago the studio distributed the wonderful documentary Tim's Vermeer, the story of layman Tim Jenison and his quest to painstakingly recreate a Vermeer painting from scratch. Likewise, The Last Vermeer tells the story of a Vermeer painting rescued from the ashes of the Third Reich and the amazing story behind it as it interconnects with the war's story and the people around it. Director Dan Friedkin, who is a wealthy businessman and film industry veteran making his directorial debut, crafts a beautiful picture of intrigue and art in a promising first picture.

May 29, 1945. It is only weeks following the fall of Nazi Germany and Allied soldiers have discovered “Christ and the Adulteress,” a work from the hand of acclaimed Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer, in the personal collection of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. Dutch Captain Joseph Piller (Claes Bang) is assigned the work of investigating stolen art, returning it to its original owners, and assessing the level of involvement in and traitorous relationships of those who facilitated the transfer of said art to the Nazis during the war. Piller's investigation of the Vermeer leads him to a snooty and flamboyant art dealer named Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce) whose history with the painting, and place in the war, runs deep. But is he the hero of the story? Or the villain? Or does he and his actions during the war, and within the art world, exist in the soupy gray matter in the middle?

Much like the art world, where excellence may be as much subjectively assessed as it is objectively defined, human nature and man's motivations, particularly in times of intense hardship, can be difficult to classify, to label, to place neatly on one side of the scales of justice. These moral quagmires and gray area ethics are much of the story in The Last Vermeer, a film based on historical fact but repurposed for dramatic effect, for narrative flow, and for thematic resonance for the screen. Nothing in the film is as it seems: not the art, not the characters, not the various abstract concepts that exist well between the lines of right and wrong. Like any good work of art, the film is a product of both broad-stroke vision and finely articulated details that altogether form a masterful finished product that requires more than a glance to assess. Its reach is wide and its purpose is multitentacled. It is slow to piece together but it's mesmerizingly adept at stringing the viewer along, revealing a detail here and there and, like a fine work of art, building on each brushstroke until the final picture -- or the final truth -- is revealed on that first step back and first gaze at the finished product.

And the film is as structurally finessed and visually adept as it is narratively complex. First-time director Dan Friedkin helms the picture with a feel for elegance, screen command, and capturing the complexities of human emotion in any environment and under any level of duress with great confidence. The film's technical craftsmanship is elegant and refined as if made by a knowing, skilled, veteran filmmaker, not a man making his first picture (though admittedly a man who knows his way around movies, having produced movies like The Mule and All the Money in the World). The film is further blessed with first-class production design and support components that pull the viewer into an authentic postwar European landscape. The acting is particularly strong, too, with the characters -- Bang's Joseph Piller and Pearce's Han Van Meegeren in particular -- fountains of subtlety and depth, performed to exacting specification yet with naturalistic cadence and flair, particularly as the case may be with Pearce's work. He builds a character with aplomb and a richness and fullness often reserved for only the most finely drawn characters and perfect performances.

The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As with most Sony releases, the Blu-ray picture quality for The Last Vermeer is excellent, boarding on the meticulous. Some noise – approaching dense as it permeates darker scenes – is in evidence here and there, a result of the digital photography at the source. The picture is otherwise stellar in all regards. Clarity is first-rate; the picture could not be more attentive to detail and openly inviting. The larger format aspect ratio pulls the viewer into the post-war world, the artist's loft, and other locales with effortlessly sharp and accurate textures. Of course complex facial features and period clothing dominate but the picture is beautifully capable of depicting worn bricks, weathered woods, paint and canvas, and other critical environmental and object details with surehanded stability and great accuracy. Colors are splendid, too, the palette full of life and vigor as it presents a full spectrum of neutral contrast colors with all of the depth and vibrancy the material demands, ranging from paint on canvas to military uniforms, street and façade brickwork, and the like. Black levels depth is superb and flesh tones are perfectly natural. There are no encode anomalies of worry, either. The movie looks gorgeous on Blu-ray.

The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Last Vermeer's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is well capable of carrying the film's sound design, which includes, primarily, music, dialogue, and some ambient effects. The presentation enjoys a regular sense of fullness and vitality. Musical definition impresses with every note. Whether soaring score or gentle instrumental fill the presentation is always on top of its game, presenting each note with careful consideration and faithful fidelity. Stretch along the front comes effortlessly while surround and subwoofer fill are engaged as necessary and never to overpowering abundance. Light atmosphere is subtle but critical in drawing the listener into various locations. Some of the firing squad scenes are amongst the highlights; the gathered crowd, and the sounds of soldiers preparing to fire, and the shots themselves, which ring out with terrifying depth, create a vivid sonic scene of death. Dialogue is the primary sound mover, though, and every syllable is clear and well defined with firm front-center positioning and perfect balance and prioritization.

The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beyond an assortment of trailers for other Sony titles (including the fantastic The Last Shift and the intriguing-looking Nine Days which Sony will hopefully bring to Blu-ray), this Blu-ray release of The Last Vermeer includes but a single supplement: the film's Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:11). No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

The Last Vermeer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Last Vermeer is a terrific film and surely one not to be missed. While the picture could stand slightly tighter editing it is an engaging picture of true cinematic merit, emotional resonance, and narrative and character depth with opportunity aplenty for the audience to allow the material to grow in depth and detail and purpose upon greater reflection. It's also a movie that benefits from multiple viewings to fully appreciate its many moving parts. It's beautifully assembled and wonderfully performed. Sony's Blu-ray is disappointingly all but featureless -- there's so much opportunity for insight into the film, its performers, and the story behind it -- but at least the studio has granted top-end video and audio presentations. Recommended.