When one is staring at the screen shooting spit-balls in the form of reading synopses on Amazon Prime, gauging movie poster designs(the sad criteria nowadays), one doesn't expect a 6.2 rating to be this good. It's early-on, with my vote being just the 68th vote for this film, but my guess is that this little documentary is headed for much greener pastures. My Score 79/100.
This is as good as "Made You Look", and "Exit Through the Gift Shop", which makes it one of the better Art documentaries of the last 20yrs.
Director Allison Otto grabbed-me with the creative opening credit design. I immediately knew whomever made the film wasn't a sell-out, but someone who actually cared about the production. It seemed to tell me something about the director before the film even started.
Personally, I like it when feature films don't feel like they have to spell-out every little detail for the viewer. A perfect example is Polanski's "Frantic". It allows the audience to fill in the blanks of the story on their own. Some people spend more time trying to discredit films than to enjoy everything that is great about them.
Documentary's that allow the audience fill-in some of the blanks themselves, that exhibit a recognizable degree of impartiality, that keep you searching for answers after their conclusion.. ..that's what keeps me coming back, digging for more.
At the core of "The Thief Collector" is the stolen masterpiece, but at the heart of the story lies the mysterious couple who stole it - or maybe they just wanted to be mysterious?
A good or bad decision can spin someone's life in another direction(I picture Michael Caine drawing dots in "Mr. Destiny"). The story finishes right where it started, the museum, but then it feels like it just starts again.
The biggest distraction is clearly the reenactments, but even that aspect is cleverly turned on its' head.
It was obvious to this viewer that the theft affected the thieves' lives far more than anyone else's. They sat there, hidden in plain sight, living abstract lives, much like the painting itself. Their guilt may lie in his own words, in their beguiling obsession for the painting, written on the faces of everyone who knew them, but really didn't.
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink