The Monuments Men (2014)

The Monuments Men movie poster- 6 cast members in seperate boxes, with their surnames written next to them. Monuments Men is written in red underneath,

The Monuments Men movie poster © Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox

DirectorGeorge Clooney

Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov

StarringGeorge Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban

Production company Fox 2000 Pictures, Smokehouse Pictures, Studio Babelsberg

Kent Filming Locations: Farm in High Halden, Ashford

Frank Stokes (George Clooney), James Granger (Matt Damon) and Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) walking in front of an airplane wing

Frank Stokes (George Clooney), James Granger (Matt Damon) and Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) © Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox

 

The Monuments Men is an action drama film based on the true story of one of the greatest treasure hunts in history, where an unlikely team are tasked to go to Germany during World War II and rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners.

With the German Army under instructions to destroy all of the artwork, the Monuments Men as they were known, consisting of museum directors, curators, and art historians are tasked to go behind enemy lines and retrieve the art and are willing to risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements.

Frank Stokes (George Clooney) and James Granger (Matt Damon) sitting at a bar having a drink

Frank Stokes (George Clooney) and James Granger (Matt Damon) © Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox

Directed, co-written and starring George Clooney (Up In The Air, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) the film also stars a wealth of talent including Matt Damon (Bourne Trilogy, The Departed) , Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, Lord of the Rings series), Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Ghostbusters), John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Argo), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Burke and Hare), Jean Dujardin (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Artist) and Bob Balaban (Girls, Gosford Park).

In June 2013, the production visited a farm in High Halden, Ashford where they filmed establishing shots of the farmland. A number of the production team also chose to stay in Ashford whilst filming scenes in Camber Sands in neighbouring East Sussex.

Ashford is a lively town with tremendous rail links, both to Europe via the Eurostar and to the capital via the High Speed Javelin. The town boasts many shops, eateries, and a designer outlet shopping centre and only a short drive away is a glorious Kent countryside. This isn’t the first time that Ashford and surrounding areas has been used for filming with previous visiting productions including Emma (2009).

Don’t miss The Monuments Men which is released in cinemas on 14 February 2014.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map.