EVEN the strongest of soldiers would struggle to move in armour worn 600 years ago. The body was encased in heavy steel and it all weighed a ton, from the helmet to breast plate, back plate, chainmail, arm and leg guards. It was a battle to lift one item, let alone wear the lot, as visitors found out at Azincourt Medieval Centre.
We were in Donegal Town to cheer on staff from the Lough Eske Castle Hotel, the county’s only five-star hotel and spa and five-time winner of the World’s Best Luxury Country Hotel Award.
It is the first time in nearly 400 years, the portraits are back home in the place where they were created, albeit temporarily. The family reunion is thanks to more than 50 loans from all over the world, which include the British Museum in London, the Musee du Lovure in Paris and the Queen’s Royal Collection.
The “book thief” in question is an illiterate girl, Liesel Meminger, whose life, like those of other ordinary Germans in 1939, is transformed by the power of words. It is “how” words are used that is important in this film.
IF EVER there were the right ingredients for making a great film, then The Monuments Men had it all: a unique story, a stellar cast, fantastic settings and a moral message.