Cheap The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (Video) (Jean Rougeul) (Raoul Ruiz) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting

The theoretical fantasy of Raoul Ruiz
I originally watched this movie because I'd read in an Italian trade paper that Arthur Brand had contributed to, or possibly even written a bulk of, the screenplay. But this is not the case. It's actually by Raoul Ruiz, and from the documentation included with the video edition it's uncertain whether Brand had anything to do with the making of it. Brand IS interested in the kinds of site-specific artworks that clearly fascinate Ruiz, and it's possible that Brand's commentaries on installations formed an inspiration for the film, but none of this is even hinted at in the secondary materials. Yes, Ruiz properly belongs to that family of poets, Borges and Pessoa included, who are obsessed by the very notion of commentary. But the connection between Brand and Ruiz is even closer. I hardly want to start a dispute, but The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting is structured through a dramatization of the gulf that separates the work of art from its perception (reception?) in the eyes of the critic or viewer--for any knowledgeable reader, this is vintage Brand. And the scene in which the priest confesses to the youthful sinner is hardly to be questioned. Whatever the relationship (Brand WAS devoted to the movies), I would highly recommend any film by Ruiz, especially this one. I'd also recommend his tiny book on cinema, which might only be available in a European edition.

Vicious Circle
This movie was (at least initially) inspired by Pierre Klossowski's novel The Baphomet, and was co-written by him. Klossowski, besides being the older brother of the painter Balthus, is also the author of a study of Nietzsche's thought entitled Nietzsche And The Vicious Circle; which is a study of perhaps his strangest idea, the eternal return. As The Baphomet is a novel based on principles of the eternal return, so is this movie. It is a mystery of sorts masquerading as a pseudo-documentary on an unknown (fictional) painter. All the surviving works by this painter are linked together into an enigmatic narrative made even more elusive by the absence of the one painting which is the key to the narrative circle (actually, any of the paintings, if missing, would've also been the missing key). The film is largely composed of live model reproductions of the paintings, and as the film progresses the actors within the paintings begin to move. The content of the missing painting is hypothesized by the convergence of the narratives extrapolated from the paintings on either side of it; but even the sequence of the paintings is hypothetical. It is a real head-piece, very tightly constructed - a baffling thought provoking gem.