At The Movies: The Stolen Painting
It’s Paris, present day. Brash forty-something André Masson (César Award-winner Alex Lutz), a hotshot modern art appraiser at prestigious high-end auction house Scottie’s, receives word that a painting by Egon Schiele may have been found in a young factory worker’s home in the Alsatian city of Mulhouse.
Though highly sceptical, André travels to view the canvas with his ex-partner Bettina (the superb Léa Drucker) who is also an expert valuator, only to be convinced of its authenticity as a masterwork long-assumed destroyed by Nazi officials during WWII. For André, the ramifications of this once-in-a-lifetime find for his career and for his contentious relationship with his less-than-reliable intern Aurore (Louise Chevillotte), will prove both unexpected and transformative.
The Stolen Painting is inspired by remarkable true events. The movie, while a drama and engrossing, often doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s the world of art dealing where the talk of money is often in the millions. There are twists and turns and at times you wonder what part all the characters have in the story of the painting, but inevitably it all comes together, though not in a way you expected.
The Stolen Painting is a pleasant entertaining and worth ninety minutes of your life to watch. I have to admit being confused by all the characters and turns during the screening, but the movie does come to a satisfying and warm conclusion.
Movie Review By Geoff Jenke
The Stolen Painting showing at Palace Nova Cinema’s from Thursday July 31.
