‘The Stolen Painting’ Is Convoluted Viewing You’ll Need To Watch Twice (But Might Not Want To)

The enjoyment of a movie sometimes depends on the moviegoer’s mood when they enter the cinema and whether the story is easy to follow or filled with complexities. The Stolen Painting is a French film which would best be described as an arthouse film, most suitable for a ‘thinking audience’ who must have a knowledge of how the dealings in the art world operates, for optimum enjoyment.

Inspired by true events, the film’s plot revolves around a long-lost Egon Schiele painting assumed destroyed by Nazi officials during WWII. The story delves on an art dealer whose integrity comes into question when this long-lost masterpiece is found in a young factory worker’s home in the Alsatian city of Mulhouse.

Was this painting truly a masterwork long assumed destroyed by Nazi officials during WWII? It’s a once in a lifetime find which would boost this art dealer’s career but is it real or the perfect example of fake artwork?

Should we also trust self-driven and perhaps unscrupulous auctioneers who may be perceived as distrustful of human sincerity and integrity in the world of art dealing and collecting?

This is a very stylish and skilfully produced film but oddly it’s described as a dramedy. The question that arises is, where were the comedic elements? Did I miss something? Was I perhaps not in the right frame of mind to watch this film?

Directed by highly acclaimed writer/director Pascal Bonitzer the cast includes Alex Lutz, Lea Drucker, Nora Hamzawi and Louise Chevillotte. The high-end art auction world is explored, meticulously detailing the complex relationships between collectors, valuators and appraisers.

The Stolen Painting is not one of the most stimulating cinematic offerings from France in recent years and is more aptly for niche audiences. Art collectors and those with an understanding of the art world may have an appreciation for these style of films, but the rest of us may find this convoluted viewing and will need to watch it twice for more comprehensive viewing – and yet still be underwhelmed and ultimately regard this as tedious viewing.

Perhaps a comprehensible cinematic depiction of the theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting The Mona Lisa which was stolen in 1911 from the Louvre and recovered in 1913 may have been of more interest for the general movie going audiences.

**1/2

The Stolen Painting is in cinemas on July 31.