In the world of high-end art auctions and antiques, Virgil Oldman is an elderly and esteemed but eccentric genius art-expert, known and appreciated by the world. Oldman is hired by a solitary young heiress, Claire Ibbetson, to auction off the large collection of art and antiques left to her by her parents. For some reason, Claire always refuses to be seen in person. Robert aids Oldman in restoring and reassembling some odd mechanical parts he finds amongst Claire's belongings, while also giving him advice on how to befriend her and deal with his feelings towards her. Also a friend of Oldman, Billy Whistler helps him to acquire a secret private collection of master paintings.Written by
Nebzyl
Several works of art are shown during the movie. The painting that gets restored is "Portrait of a Young Girl" (ca. 1470) by Petrus Christus. Among the works studied by Oldman there is also "Birth of Venus" (1879) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Among the female portraits in his collection, one can spot: "Portrait of a Young Woman (La Fornarina)" (ca. 1519) and "Portrait of a Young Woman (La Muta)" (1507) by Raphael, "Violante" (ca. 1515), "La Bella" (1536) and "Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga Della Rovere" (ca. 1538) by Titian, "Portrait of Eleaonor of Toledo and Her Son" (1545) and "Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi" (1541) by Bronzino, "Portrait of Caterina Sforza" (ca. 1490) by Lorenzo di Credi, "Zingarella" (1505) by Boccaccio Boccaccino, "Portarit of Lucretia Borgia" (ca. 1510) by Bartolomeo Veneziano, "Portrait of Lucina Brembati" (1518) by Lorenzo Lotto, "Lady with a Book of Petrarch's Rhyme" (ca. 1528) by Andrea del Sarto, "Portrait of Bianca Cappello" (ca. 1572) by Alessandro Allori, "Portrait of Elspeth Tucher" (1499) by Albrecht Dürer, "Salomè" (1510) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, "Portrait of Minerva Anguissola" (ca. 1570) by Sofonisba Anguissola, "Self-Portrait" (1580) by Marietta Robusti, "Girl with a Burning Candle" (ca. 1706) by Gottfried Schalken, "Portrait of Beatrice Cenci" (1599) and "Portrait of the Mother" (ca. 1620) by Guido Reni, "Self-Portrait" and "Portrait of Old Dame" by Rosalba Carriera, "Self-Portrait with Harp" (1750) by Rose-Adelaide Ducreux, "Portrait of Delphine Ingres-Ramel" (1859) and "Portrait of Madame Aymon" (1806) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, "Joli Coeur" (1867) and "Woman in the Window" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and "Jeanne Samary in a Low-Necked Dress (La Rêverie)" (1877) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. There are also works of Pieter Paul Rubens, Francisco Goya, Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, Amedeo Modigliani and Morgan Weistling. See more »
Goofs
As Virgil passes through the glass-pane door of Night and Day café almost at the end of the movie, there is a sticker on the glass pane of the door which read "Pivnice U milosrdných" - the original Czech name of that pub. See more »
Quotes
Robert:
You know, gearboxes are like people. If they've been together long enough, eventually, they take on each other's forms.
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Great movies have the power to make you think and this movie had me thinking for so long I couldn't sleep on the night I saw it. It is a tremendous film with a deeply unsettling message and even now, 24 hours after seeing it I am haunted by the end.
It's a fairy story and nightmare rolled into one. It's not what happens that's important it's how it happens. the story is great but the plot is even better.
Forget the bad reviews and make up your own mind. If you subscribe to the notion that Life imitates Art or Art imitates Life go see it. You won't be disappointed.
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Great movies have the power to make you think and this movie had me thinking for so long I couldn't sleep on the night I saw it. It is a tremendous film with a deeply unsettling message and even now, 24 hours after seeing it I am haunted by the end.
It's a fairy story and nightmare rolled into one. It's not what happens that's important it's how it happens. the story is great but the plot is even better.
Forget the bad reviews and make up your own mind. If you subscribe to the notion that Life imitates Art or Art imitates Life go see it. You won't be disappointed.