Michael's Movie Grade: B
A gripping and fascinating documentary.
Despite in many ways being a rather traditional documentary, director Andreas Koefoed knows how to make it not feel like one we have seen before. One way to do this is to frame the story in the style of a heist film. This is very effective and makes the story quite gripping and fascinating. The movie is presented in such a way that it creates tension and builds upon the tension perfectly to make scenes such as the art biding, 100% edge of your seat entertainment.
If you are like me then the art world is something you don't fully know or understand. While I enjoy a good painting, I don't seek out the history of it or pay huge amounts of many to own it and I definitely don't know much about the world the curates, preserves or studies this type of art. That actually worked perfectly to my advantage as I got to see the art world in a way I never had thought of before. This movie shows the greed and manipulation that goes into making these art pieces a product not unlike movies or TV. Facts are bent and out and out lied about and "facts" that have not been confirmed are they were. The film never tells us if the painting is in fact an authentic Leonardo Da Vinci painting. We hear experts from all sides of the debate speak about this. All of them do so intelligently and knowledgeably. Because of that it is hard for us to know for sure what to make of the painting as we leave. This adds a wonderful sense of mystery and awe to the film that I found completely gripping. Yet at the same time with how well the movie set up the tension, certain uncertainties can feel a bit anticlimactic (though I understand the filmmakers had no control over that).
Strangely even at only 100 minutes this film can feel a bit overlong and could have used a bit more editing. On the other hand it seems strange that while, the movie does a great job making this story interesting for an average audience, it fails to explain why this piece has an impact on those who see it except for the name of an artist who may or may not have painted it. Those watching who may not be interested in painting may be at a loss as to why some would consider this a great painting.
All and all this is a very entertaining and well made documentary that will even be exciting for those who have no interest in paintings.
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