The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting

It's no surprise that Vierny was the cinematographer on this film, at a point in his career that comes between Resnais and Greenaway. It embodies the same spirit as those directors, a highly artistic, intellectual, and cryptic mystery. I'm not sure what I'm meant to carry away from it, but it's an unusual work that says a lot about artistic obsession, art criticism, and the importance of art. However, at times the concept grows tedious, something that also plagues both Resnais and Greenaway.

An essay film conducted within the space of tableaux vivants. Ruiz delves into advanced art analysis as if on a mission to make the obscure accessible, and while not all the conundrums being solved are relatable in the first place, there's something gripping about the whole cinematic experience. It's meticulous in unusual ways. Forceful and unique.

a thesis

At times this was really fascinating at others quite dull. Ultimately I feel I would've gotten more out of this had I had more context about the background of the paintings and the scandal that is referred to.

It's interesting to me when the film is recreating real paintings and having Ruiz just walk around it trying to analyze it, but often times the analysis is too bent on simply describing the scene which can be boring. However, the mystery surrounding these paintings is fascinating and the dubious conclusion that's reached about them is amusing. Unfortunately, the film doesn't make any meaningful statement about artistic obsession that would stem from the premise.

Cleverly assembled, but, in the end, it doesn't add up to much. For a presentation of the Klossowskian cosmos, I'll take POEM (1972).

Mesmerizing journey through a series of scandalous tableaux vivants that may or may not hide clues to a dark conspiracy. The visual design is richly evocative, encouraging the "collector" narrator to develop his dangerous hypotheses. At times he argues with the other narrator, changes his mind, draws parallels to a shocking roman à clef, or offers himself up to another viewpoint entirely. A very fine film on the interpretation of visual art; I would have watched another hour of this.