(ANSA) - VENICE, 04 SEPT - The DUKE, a very British comedy by Roger Michell, falls into a Lido full of masks and fear.
Added value of this work, out of competition at the Venice International Film Festival, the two Oscar-winning protagonists: Helen Mirren (The Queen - Laregina, Ella & John, Woman in Gold) and Jim Broadbent (Iris, TheIron Lady, The secret by Vera Drake).
Two great actors who are a truer than true couple in the film, just like the story of the film.
In 1961 Kempton Bunton (Broadbent), a 60-year-old taxi driver, stole Francisco Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London in protest.
It was the first (and still only) theft in the history of the Gallery.
So far everything 'normal', but Kempton, after the theft, sent a particular request for a ransom, claiming that they would return the painting on condition that the government had committed itself to the elderly.
Already in the past, among the many battles of man, untrustworthy husband and worker, there had been precisely that in favor of pensioners who, according to its judgment, had the right to free television.
It must be said, however, that only fifty years after the interavicenda, that is the theft, the return of the painting and the relative trial of the pensioner, this story came to light.
And it wasn't until much later that it was discovered that Kempton had woven a much more intricate web of lies than could be imagined.
(HANDLE).