The striking landscapes of the Italian city of Venice, and the excuse of an exclusive art auction of an NFT, the work of an anonymous artist, that a “cool” group of thieves intends to steal, and thus shape a story that allows increasing its value are the elements that shape the beginning of the film “Lift: a first-class robbery”released on the platform Netflixwhich allows us to review other resonant heists in fiction such as “The Thomas Crown Affair” or “The Ambush.”
Directed by Gary Gray and starring Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha – Rawwith performances by Vincent D’Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó and Jean Reno, “Lift” brings together a true international casting to give shape to this action and heist film, an always captivating genre that in this case also intrudes into the universe of art.
Although the film begins with the theft of an NFT (a non-fungible token) during an auction in Venice, the synopsis states that this group of thieves are recruited by Interpol to help them on a mission, in exchange for not going to jail. for having stolen the work of art, which includes a possible romance between the police officer and the gang leader.
“My team and I love art,” Cyrus, a character played by Hart, begins by saying shortly after the film begins. “We love paintings, video art, sculptures, photography, street art, but we have never stolen a “NFT”.
So you are thieves?, asks the actor who plays N8, an anonymous artist and creator of the recently sold NFT, to which the thief responds: “We rescue works of art from owners who don’t deserve them.”
Thus, the thieves acquire the NFT – with the money from the theft of a Van Gogh – and party on a boat through the canals of Venice, together with the technological artist, while they make the world believe that they have kidnapped him.
And the protagonist resumes the theme of art: “Leonardo da Vinci sold the Mona Lisa for 25 thousand dollars and nobody gave a shit about that work for 400 years. Until they stole it. That smile is now worth $860 million because of the story behind it. Like the story of your kidnapping,” celebrates the character played by Hart and proposes “a toast to the first theft in the history of an NFT.” The sequence shows news broadcasts from around the world, reporting that “the famous anonymous artist N8 was kidnapped “, while the NFT rapidly increases its value from 20 to 89 million dollars.
The plot takes in impressive locations such as London, Belfast, Venice, Cortina d’Ampezzo and even the Italian Alps, and takes up the theme of art in several sections, such as when the protagonist – the Interpol agent – remembers a painting by Davis Hockney that I used to admire as a child.
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“Venice itself is a standing piece of art, with its canals, historic buildings and 600-year-old frescoes. Filming in a location that is the epitome of art sets the perfect tone for this global art heist film,” declared the director of “Lift”, Gary Grey.
The filming in Venice even included scenes in the famous St. Mark’s Square, with some references to the carnival with masks and costumes, and the supposed auction house where the beginning of the film takes place was recorded at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, a historic religious and artistic center of the 16th century, decorated with enormous masterpieces by artists such as Titian and Tintoretto.
Without a doubt, if you think about theft of works of art in fiction, a famous film from the 90s immediately comes to mind, “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), in which a billionaire, played by Pierce Brosnan, he plans the theft of a valuable painting while becoming involved with an insurance investigator, played by Rene Russo.
The film, which was a huge success at the time, included numerous scenes filmed outside and inside the imposing Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City, with a persistent reference to the works of the surrealist painter René Magritte, known for its ingenious and provocative images that play with the viewer’s perception. In the plot, billionaire Thomas Crown attempts to steal a priceless Monet from the Met’s permanent collection.
It is worth clarifying that the 1999 film was a surprising remake of the original film “The Thomas Crown Affair” from 1968, then starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, in a film directed by John McTiernan, also then one of the most popular films of his time.
In this type of film – which always generates fascination – certain recurring elements appear, such as that those who steal the works of art are good, cultured thieves, or that they do it for good causes, to go against the system or because their owners do not allow them. they deserve.
In that sense, it is also possible to think of “The Ambush” (1999), starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, which starts from minute one with the theft of a valuable Rembrandt, and which tells the story of a Surely he teams up with an art thief to carry out a spectacular robbery together, although the entire journey will be full of deceptions and tricks hidden up his sleeve.
The 2009 film “The Maiden Heist” is developed in an absolute tone of comedy, with performances by Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy. They are three museum security guards who have developed an emotional bond with the works of art they guard every day, for 30 years. When they learn that the authorities are going to move the collection to another building, they devise a daring plan to steal the pieces they have grown fond of and return them to their original place. It includes scenes at the Worcester Art Museum, in the United States, opened in 1898 and with a collection of 35,000 works from different cultures and periods.
Finally, the sequel to “Ocean’s Eleven”, released in 2004 as “Ocean’s Twelve” continues the story of the character Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his team of thieves, this time ready to rob a valuable work of art and thus pay a debt to the casino owner who was robbed in the first film.
As the film includes a true dream team of Hollywood stars – in addition to Clooney there are Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy García, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones, Don Cheadle and Bernie Mac – the plot does not delve into the details of Clooney’s work. art itself, but in the interaction between the characters played by these actors.
This group of thieves then plans to rob a lonely and eccentric millionaire, a collector of art and very valuable antiques, while the film was shot in Chicago, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
2024-02-04 01:56:34
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