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THE THIEF COLLECTOR
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Sat and Sun, July 29 and 30 at 2:30 at the IU Radio & Television Theater Purchase Tickets
co feature: THE DUKE.
Buy a ticket to The Thief Collector and get a free ticket to The Duke
In 1985, Willem de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre,” one of the most valuable paintings of the 20th century, was sliced from its frame and stolen from an Arizona museum. Thirty-two years later, the $160 million painting was found hanging behind a bedroom door in the home of retired school teachers Jerry and Rita Alter in rural New Mexico. The Thief Collector takes a deep look at how and why this mild-mannered couple pulled off one of the greatest art heists of a generation. Was this their only art theft? And why was this couple so protective of their septic tank?
You could say, going back to Hitchcock or the silent-film era, that the thriller is the quintessential form of cinema. You could also say that the quintessential moment of a thriller is one that makes you go “Oh. My. God.” When that happens (kind of a rare occurrence these days), it’s a privileged and intoxicating feeling, one that lifts you right out of yourself. Recently, though, I’ve been experiencing that sensation in what may sound like a highly unlikely place: documentaries about the art world.
But what’s every bit as jaw-dropping is the rabbit hole of reality and illusion you then find yourself tumbling down. By the time The Thief Collector makes you say “Oh. My. God.,” it’s a movie that has used art to touch something essential about how strangers — or maybe I should just say the downright strange — walk among us. – Variety