Stolen (I) (2006)

In March of 1990, two thieves dressed as Boston police officers gained entrance to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston Massachusetts and successfully executed the largest art ... See full summary »

Director:

Rebecca Dreyfus

Writer:

Sharon Guskin

Stars:

Blythe Danner, Campbell Scott, Harold Smith

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Blythe Danner	...	Isabella Stewart Gardner (voice)
Campbell Scott	...	Bernard Berenson (voice)
Harold Smith	...	Himself
Anthony Bailey	...	Himself
Celeste Brusati	...	Herself
Tracy Chevalier	...	Herself
Marie-Cécile Commère	...	Herself
Myles Conner	...	Himself
Frank Dimaria	...	Himself
Dick Ellis	...	Himself
Ron Gollobin	...	Himself
Kate Miller	...	Isabella Stewart Gardner
Nina Kaminer	...	Herself
Eli Kirtz	...	Himself
Tom Mashberg	...	Himself

Storyline

In March of 1990, two thieves dressed as Boston police officers gained entrance to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston Massachusetts and successfully executed the largest art heist in modern history. Among the thirteen priceless works stolen was Vermeer's "The Concert" one of only 35 of the masters surviving works. Not a single one of the works has been recovered. STOLEN is a full exploration of the Gardner theft, and the fascinating, disparate characters involved: from the 19th century Grand dame Isabella Gardner to a private detective obsessed with finding the art to a terrorist organization with a penchant for stealing Vermeers.

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Plot Keywords:

vermeer | museum | heist | missing painting | lost painting | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 2008 (Japan)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flourish Films, Persistence of Vision Entertainment, Precision Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Independent Lens: Stolen (2005)

User Reviews

Flawed but mildly interesting.

This is a very flawed film but might be of some interest to some(though not really to me despite my love of art). The subject of the film is a famous theft of some amazingly expensive paintings at a art gallery in Boston and the efforts of a few (particularly Harold Smith) to track down the stolen works. It's a documentary and is told in a rather peculiar manner--showing the efforts of Smith today to recover these treasures as well as flashback scenes of the lady's life who created the museum and assembled the collection.

So why do I say it was flawed? Well, the biggest problem it has is trying to make the viewer interested--which it seldom does despite the precious loss. Very subdued music, low-key performances and a somberness that is almost sleep-inducing all contribute to this. The bottom line is that the film needed energy--which is sorely lacked. In addition, this problem was made worse by its running length. There really only seemed to be about 45-60 minutes worth of material at best and its padding just made the whole thing drag. Not bad, but it sure could have been a lot better.