Araluen Arts Centre: 
The Stolen Painting
Inspired by remarkable true events, acclaimed writer/director Pascal Bonitzer’s sharp and hugely engrossing new dramedy THE STOLEN PAINTING follows a self-assured auctioneer whose professional and personal integrity is challenged by the discovery of a long-lost masterpiece.
Paris, present day. Brash 40-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, Custody) 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.
Skilfully brought to life by an array of endearing and duplicitous characters, THE STOLEN PAINTING is a thrilling exploration of the often-cynical world of art dealing and collecting, where the jaw-dropping prices aren't always related to the rarity of the object or the desire of potential customers.
"One of my favourite films of the year. A sophisticated and compelling character study and mystery. So rich and well crafted... fascinating to watch. A cinematic chamber piece that's so worth your time. Wonderful."
Jason Di Rosso
ABC RADIO NATIONAL
"Entertaining. A gripping comedy about Nazi-looted art that satisfyingly interrogates the intricacies and personalities of that world... where everyone bends the truth to suit their needs and in which the marketplace value of a painting is determined by more than its artistic merits."
Stephen Romei
THE AUSTRALIAN
"A wry comedy. In the film’s scheme of things, art is first and foremost a business – but a business that involves playing the game of seduction. The film is filled with teasing false clues about where the story might be headed. But in the end, everything works out with the pleasing neatness of a fable."
Jake Wilson
THE AGE
Gallery
DIRECTOR
Pascal Bonitzer
Pascal Bonitzer, born in Paris in 1946, published his first article in Les Cahiers du Cinéma in 1969.
Some of his reviews and essays on cinema have been compiled in collections such as "Le Regard et la Voix"(10/18, 1976), "Le Champ aveugle"(Cahiers du Cinéma/Gallimard, 1981) and "La Vision Partielle"(Capricci, 2016).
In 1976, together with Serge Toubiana and Jean Jourdeuilh, he wrote Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma sœur et mes frères... by René Allio.
In 1977 he wrote André Téchiné's The Brontë Sisters (Les soeurs Brontë), followed in 1982 by three films: Barbet Schroeder's Cheaters (Tricheurs), Pascal Kané's Liberty Belle and Jacques Rivette's Love on the Ground (L’Amour par terre).
This was followed by ten films for Rivette, mostly co-written with Christine Laurent, including The Gang of Four (La bande des quatre) (1987), La Belle Noiseuse (1991), Joan The Maid (Jeanne la Pucelle) (1994), Up, Down, Fragile (Haut, bas, fragile) (1996), Who knows? (Vasavoir) (2000) and The Duchess of Langeais (Ne Touchez pas la Hache) (2004).
Meanwhile, he has worked on films by André Téchiné:Scene of the Crime (Le Lieu duCrime), The innocents (Les Innocents), My Favorite Season (Ma Saison préférée), Thieves (LesVoleurs), Changing Times (Les Temps qui changent)... For Raoul Ruiz (who cast him in 1977 in The Suspended Vocationaka La Vocationsuspendue), he wrote Three Lives and Only One Death (Trois Vies et une seule mort) (1995) and Genealogies of a Crime (Généalogies d'un Crime) (1996).
In 1998, he met Raoul Peck, with whom he went on to write Lumumba, followed by L'Affaire Villemin (TV series in six episodes, 2006), Murder in Pacot (Meurtre à Pacot) (2014), The Young Karl Marx (Le Jeune Karl Marx) (2016) and Les Cris (in production).
For Anne Fontaine, he wrote the screenplay for Gemma Bovery (2014),The Innocents (LesInnocentes) (2016) and White as Snow (2018). He directed his first film in 1995:Encore, with Jackie Berroyer and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi (winner of the 1996 Jean Vigo Award).
Seven films followed, including Nothing About Robert (Rien sur Robert), with Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain, Michel Piccoli and Valentina Cervi (1998), Small Cuts (Petites Coupures), with Daniel Auteuil and Kristin Scott Thomas (2003), Made in Paris (Je penseà vous), with Edouard Baer, Charles Berling, Géraldine Pailhas and Marina de Van (2005), Looking for Hortense (Cherchez Hortense) with Isabelle Carré, Jean-Pierre Bacri and Claude Rich (2012), Right Here Right Now (Tout de suite Maintenant), with Agathe Bonitzer, Vincent Lacoste, Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Pascal Greggory, Julia Faure (2016), Spellbound (LesEnvoûtés), with Sara Giraudeau, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Anabel Lopez, Iliana Lolic, Josyane Balasko (2019), Auction (Le Tableau volé), with Léa Drucker, Alex Lutz, Nora Hamzaoui, Louise Chevillotte, Arcadi Radeff (2023).
CAST
Alex Lutz, Léa Drucker, Nora Hamzawi, Louise Chevillotte, Alain Chamfort, Olivier Rabourdin
Dates
Times
7pm
Duration
91 minutes
Interval
None
Prices
Adult
$17.00
Concession
$14.00
Araluen Member
$14.00
Araluen Concession Member
$11.00
Genre
Location
Extra information
Online ticketing is available up until one hour prior to the performance.
For ticket purchases after this time, please visit the Araluen Box Office or call us on (08) 8951 1122.
Accessibility
Rating
Booking Fee
For this event, a one-off service fee of $2.50 per transaction applies on all purchases online. All ticket prices include GST.
