“The Stolen Painting” arrives in theaters this Wednesday. This ensemble film, with Alex Lutz, Léa Drucker and Nora Hamzawi in particular, is an elegant and tasty comedy in the world of art and auction houses.
What is it about ?
André Masson, auctioneer at the famous Scottie’s auction house, received a letter one day according to which a painting by Egon Schiele had been discovered in Mulhouse at the home of a young worker. Very skeptical, he goes there and has to face the facts: the painting is authentic, a masterpiece missing since 1939, looted by the Nazis. André sees this event as the pinnacle of his career, but it is also the beginning of a fight that could put it in danger. Fortunately, he will be helped by his ex-wife and colleague Bertina, and by his whimsical intern Aurore…
Cinema likes to draw from the pool of true stories. The more astonishing they are and too incredible to seem real, the more the writers love them! The Stolen Painting is no exception to this rule.
The plot starts from an incredible story inspired by real events, that of a painting which had completely disappeared during the Second World War, and which is found completely by chance in the home of an individual who is a thousand miles from knowing that he owns it. a painting of inestimable value under his roof!
“It is in fact, as is often mentioned, “based on a true story”: the discovery, in the early 2000s, of a painting by Egon Schiele in the house of a young chemical worker in the suburbs. from Mulhouse by a modern art specialist from a major international auction house. Painting which turned out to be a work looted by the Nazis“, specifies Pascal Bonitzer in the press kit.
A romantic plot as desired
This idea offers screenwriter and director Pascal Bonitzer a playground to imagine a romantic plot as desired, constructed like a puzzle. It is a very free adaptation of this real initial fact, but therefore material for a plot giving pride of place to sketched characters with a lot of bite and a plot located in a very cinematic environment.
“Iliana Lolic, who is credited as a collaborator on the script, carried out around twenty interviews in the world of auctions: auctioneers, gallery owners, collectors, antique dealers, etc. This is very abundant that I extracted this story and imagined a plot, characters, like the young intern, the ex-wife, the lawyer, the young worker, his friends and his mother, etc.”
As Nora Hamazawi indicates to our microphone, “this painting serves as a pretext to talk about lots of social circles that meet, that get along with each other, that sometimes judge each other…“
The film is based on a casting that fits each of the characters perfectly. The casting is very successful: Alex Lutz, Léa Drucker, Nora Hamzawi, Louise Chevillotte, Laurence Côte and Alain Chamfort. Note in particular the character of Martin Keller, played by a charismatic young actor, with the false air of Christian Slater), Arcadi Radeff.
Our meeting with Nora Hamzawi, who talks about her foray into the world of Pascal Bonitzer, and her great year 2024 (her show, new films coming…):
The Stolen Painting is also an interesting reflection on the world of art and the world of money. “There’s always something cynical and disgusting about the world of money, that’s just the way it is. It amused me, when it comes to a work of art, that we never consider it other than in terms of: how much it will bring in. André Masson (namesake of the painter) is capable of appreciating the beauty of a work by Egon Schiele, but what essentially interests him is its monetary and market value and what the company that uses it will achieve. gain as profit and glory in this environment of fierce rivalries between enemy houses.“
Remember that the painter highlighted in this film, Egon Schiele, was the subject of a film in its own right, released in 2017.
Finally, note that The Stolen Painting is dedicated to Sophie Fillières, who died last summer.
