Incognito (1997)

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for five hundred thousand dollars. The girl he meets and gets into bed with, in Paris, Marieke, turns out to be an art ... See full summary »

Director:

John Badham

Writer:

Jordan Katz

Stars:

Jason Patric, Irène Jacob, Thomas Lockyer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Patric	...	Harry Donovan
Irène Jacob	...	Prof. Marieke van den Broeck
Thomas Lockyer	...	Alastair Davies
Ian Richardson	...	Turley (prosecutor)
Simon Chandler	...	Iain Ill
Pip Torrens	...	White (defense attorney)
Michael Cochrane	...	Deeks
Rod Steiger	...	Milton A. Donovan
Togo Igawa	...	Agachi
Joseph Blatchley	...	Prof. Scheerding
Paul Brennen	...	Det. Sgt. Steed
Olivier Pierre	...	Lecuyer
Peter Gale	...	Westerbrook
David Marrick	...	Bright
Dudley Sutton	...	Halifax / Offul

Storyline

Harry Donovan is an art forger who paints fake Rembrandt picture for five hundred thousand dollars. The girl he meets and gets into bed with, in Paris, Marieke, turns out to be an art expert, who Harry's clients are using to check the counterfeit picture he painted.

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Plot Keywords:

frame up | art | rembrandt | one word title | troubled artist | 

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Taglines:

Harry Donovan is a master in the art of deception... trapped in a lie so perfect even the truth can't save him.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, violence and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Incógnito

Filming Locations:

France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Marieke mails the letter, there is a very short close-up, where you can read the address of Juan del Campo, meaning "John of the Field", living in Plaza de la Mierda, meaning "Shit Square".

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Goofs

There is no place all over Spain called 'Villa Perdita'. In fact, 'Perdita' has no meaning as a Spanish word. The correct spelling is 'perdida', that means 'lost'.

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Quotes

Harry Donovan: I just don't understand why you guys have to sit here and piss on other people, let alone Rembrandt.
Cafe intellectual: Professor Scheerding *proved* that the painting, The Man With The Golden Helmet, is just a cheap fake.
Prof. Scheerding: I'm sure you know that, uh, in 1930 there were over 800 *supposed* Rembrandts.
Harry Donovan: And now we're down to 241, thanks to you and your friends - and dropping. So, bully for you! Every schoolkid's favorite picture is now junk, because some self-appointed windbag has said so. You know, the problem is, ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002)

User Reviews

Worth watching

"You don't like people," says Marieke to Harry Donovan, challenging him to name one counter-example. It is no surprise; Harry is not very likable himself. The angry-but-brilliant artist is a cliché, but Jason Patric makes it work. His character finds some sort of healing in his rendering his father into a fake Rembrandt he makes in the movie, at the same time melding his relationship to his father into his own psyche. I would like to have seen more art and art commentary in this movie, but you can learn a lot from it.