The Burnt Orange Heresy (2019)

Directed by: Giuseppe Capotondi | 99 minutes | action, drama, thriller | Actors: Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Rosalind Halstead, Alessandro Fabrizi

As a critic, you can make or break a book, movie or work of art. It just depends on how much value the listener attaches to your critical view or opinion. Certainly in the art world, it is the critic who plays a major role in determining whether something is art or not. Because if an (influential) critic claims that a canvas with random stripes and splashes is art with a capital K, then it is. And then the value of such a canvas suddenly rises to great heights. That’s the way it works in that world; it is not the beauty of a painting that determines its value, but the amount of money associated with it. ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ (2019) by Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi (‘La doppia ora’, 2009) is set in the art world and shows the corrupting effect of money and power on artists, collectors and critics. The film is based on the 1971 novel of the same name by writer Charles Willeford, but Capotondi and screenwriter Scott Smith (‘A Simple Plan’, 1998) moved the events from bustling Miami to the land of classical art: Italy.

The Danish actor Claes Bang – who has previously immersed himself in the art world in ‘The Square’ (2017) and apparently feels at home in it – plays art critic James Figueras, who mainly resides in Milan and uses his knowledge, opinion and influence. mainly applies during lectures. After one of those lectures, the American art lover Berenice Hollis (Elizabeth Debicki) lingers for a while. The two are attracted to each other and after she spends the night with him, James asks his newfound crush to accompany him to the mansion of the wealthy art collector Joseph Cassidy, played by rock legend Mick Jagger. Cassidy makes an enticing proposal to Figueras: he gets to interview the renowned, enigmatic painter Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland). Debney has lived a secluded life on Cassidy’s estate for years and rarely if ever appears in the public eye. A great opportunity for the ambitious Figueras, who can polish his somewhat decrepit reputation with a unique interview with one of his great art heroes. But Cassidy wants something in return for that opportunity…

‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ is all about trickery and deceit, about offers that cannot be refused, about a diabolical proposal that James Figueras falls for like a classic Faust character. Figueras is an interesting figure, an arrogant and vain man who is easy to blackmail. Each character has its secrets and of course they are revealed one by one. There are plenty of features that we recognize from the work of Alfred Hitchcock, for example, such as the beautiful but cold-hearted femme fatale (the mysterious and cool Elizabeth Debicki had undoubtedly gained Hitchcock’s approval, although he might have found her on the long side) and the ‘anti-hero who has nothing left to lose. Capotondi has looked very closely at the old master, but one crucial aspect is missing: the suspense. The film takes too much time to get going and consists largely of dialogue that should have been razor sharp but unfortunately it isn’t. As a result, ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ lingers in pretentious navel-gazing. The setting is beautiful, Cassidy’s beautiful mansion exudes something aristocratic and stylish and the actors put their best foot forward. The role of Donald Sutherland is unfortunately only small, we would have liked to see a lot more of that. Capotondi and Smith should have gotten more out of that. Judging by his mischievous twinkling eyes, Jagger is visibly enjoying his bit part.

‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ certainly has its charm and that is mainly due to the cast. The idea that an art critic is in fact a kind of forger who can appropriate a work by giving it value and meaning is fascinating, of course, but Capotondi then does too little with it and gets too caught up in pseudo-intellectual and clichéd musings. The result is that the film is unbalanced (especially halfway through things collapse a bit) and has too little tension for a film noir. Fortunately, that is somewhat rectified towards the end, but the slight disappointment around ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ is unfortunately not removed.