THE UNDERDOG story always goes down well with filmgoers and that will surely prove to be the case with this tale of an octogenarian Jewish Holocaust refugee who fought the Austrian government to recover the artwork the nazis stole from her family.

Simon Curtis’s compelling drama is based on the real life David v Goliath legal battle Los Angeles dress shop owner Maria Altmann waged to retrieve her dead uncle’s five paintings by Gustav Klimt. His master work was a portrait of her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer — played in flashback by Antje Traue — the “woman in gold” of the film’s title.

Considered Austria’s Mona Lisa, the Austrian authorities fought tooth and nail to retain the painting and strung out the fight. It was as if they were waiting for her to die, according to Altmann.

Helen Mirren is majestic as the feisty and quick-witted octogenarian who hires an inexperienced young lawyer Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds — somewhat out of his depth) to help her achieve justice.

A series of flashbacks depict her privileged home life, her idyllic relationship with her aunt and how a young Altmann — played sublimely by Tatiana Maslany — was forced to flee Vienna with her husband, leaving her parents behind and emigrate to the US after the nazis invaded the city.

Mirren’s tour-de-force performance enhances Alexi Kaye Campbell’s predictable script as her character is forced to confront her guilt and her painful past.

It’s impossible not to be moved and outraged by the endless injustices and humiliations that Altmann suffers, though these are tempered by her dry humour and the killer retorts that Mirren delivers with expert aplomb.

There have been a number of documentaries about Altmann’s legal fight but what’s striking about the film is its exploration of how Jewish refugees started life afresh in another country.

And it’s a reminder of Austria’s close links with the nazis — decades later thousands of artworks still haven’t been returned to their lawful Jewish owners.