Giuseppe Tornatore is back in grand form with his latest film, “The Best Offer” (2013). Filmed between Bolzano, Merano, Vienna and Prague, it is the story about art collector and fine art auctioneer Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) who can tell a fraudulent painting from an original as easy as distinguishing black from white.
Virgil is a sterile man who has pushed down human emotions and relationships for stark professionalism and sharp senses. But one day his better judgment is tested when the greatest work of art he has ever seen, Claire Ibbotson (Sylvia Hoeks), turns out to be more than meets the eye, spinning this previously uber self-controlled reserved man into an existence of self-doubt, suspicion and chaos.
At home, Virgil only surrounds himself with the company of his hidden art collection of priceless female portraits. Real women remain an undesirable mystery to him; thus, to avoid complication, he keeps his life clean of all female company and spends his nights alone in his room full of rare female faces from over the centuries.
One day he meets Claire who summons him to her family villa to appraise the plentiful antiques scattered about the property. While he begins to document the villa’s rare finds for auction, he forms a companionship with the agora-phobic and psychologically traumatized Claire.
Upon his intimacy with the sensuous and stunning Claire, art loses its luster to him. He falls in love with her and manages to help her out of her mental disease. He offers her everything- his home, his art collection, his hand in marriage- and she accepts. But when he returns from a trip to London after the last auction of his career, he is met with his worst nightmare, which sends him into a lonely descent into madness.
While at times predictable in its setup, being that it is a con-artist story, “The Best Offer” is done with such grace and panache that only Tornatore could have pulled off. It does hold suspense as it turns from a psychological thriller to a heist movie; at moments it even felt like Hitchcock might walk across the screen during certain psychologically traumatic bone-chilling scenes.
There is a subplot about an android from the 18th century ("Hugo"?), which underlines a captivating ending in an antique clock shop café in Prague called: ‘Night and Day’. A haunting and soulful score by the immortal sounds of Ennio Morricone accompanies the film, giving soul to Virgil’s excruciating descent from day into night. The film held its world premier at the 63rd Berlinale in the ‘Berlinale Special Gala’ section.
Written By Vanessa McMahon
DIRECTOR- Giuseppe Tornatore
CAST- Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess , Sylvia Hoeks, and Donald Sutherland.
