Woman in Gold

I did appreciate this movie of Simon Curtis because it is balanced. The past throws its shadows to the present. An old woman dies. She has fled from Austria to the United States. When Austria became part of the German Reich, her family were rich and owners of a valuable painting from Schiele : Woman in Gold.
The dying woman leaves one relative, her sister, played by Helen Mirren. She gets aware of the painting which is now exhibited in an Austrian Art Galery. For many years noone has claimed this painting. Now laws and point of view towards history in Austria have changed, there is a law that spoiled artwork has to be handed over to its former owners. The older woman meets a young lawyer whose parents have also left Austria during these days. Both have to travel several times to Austria, and the old lady remembers the days of her youth : persecution and terror against her family because they are jews. She could escape, but other members of her family have died in the camps. The painting has been taken away in an assault at her home and deposited in an art gallery. The young lawyer played by Ryan Reynolds is of Austrian origin, too. He gives up his job and files a lawsuit against the Austrian Government. The issue reaches the Supreme Court. The final decision taken by an arbitration committe in Vienna is favorable to the owners sister.