Pascal Bonitzer’s “Auction” boasts a compelling story, but the movie itself feels inconsistent and often arbitrary. Based on a script inspired by true events, Mr. Bonitzer dutifully outlines a basic trajectory, yet he adds narrative detours that feel unnecessary or, worse, clichéd.
Granted, a “feel good” movie often leans on predictability—it’s no spoiler to say that a happy ending is de rigueur for the genre. However, why the director chose to linger on these elements to such an extent remains puzzling. This is especially surprising considering Mr. Bonitzer’s extensive experience. “Auction” marks his 12th film, and prior to this, he contributed to over 48 screenplays for renowned directors such as Jacques Rivette, André Téchiné, and Anne Fontaine. He began his career as a critic at the famed French film journal, *Cahiers du Cinéma*, where his writing was notably erudite.
If you appreciate serious, intense commentary about “the atony of commentary,” Mr. Bonitzer might be the perfect cinematic guide. But “Auction” is not that dense or obscure. Despite some well-deserved jabs at the art market and its beneficiaries, the film remains light on its feet.
The opening scene is nearly brilliant: a rapacious connoisseur working for a major auction house, André Masson (Alex Lutz), accompanied by his new intern, Aurore (a stern and steely Louise Chevillotte), visits the home of a wealthy dowager (Marisa Borini). The elderly woman is eager to sell a significant work of art, but when she begins to pontificate about family, money, and minorities, what starts as a business transaction over tea morphs into a high farce. The result is discomfiting comedy of a high order.
Mr. Bonitzer’s script, co-written with Ilana Lolic, retains some of its wit, but “Auction” loses momentum as it slides into soap opera territory—or rather, a patchwork of soap operas. The push and pull between human desires is an evergreen topic, but the narrative Mr. Bonitzer and Ms. Lolic have crafted succumbs to overly cutesy tactics that feel less soft-hearted and more soft-headed.
For all its Frenchness, “Auction” unfolds with the dramatic subtlety of a by-the-numbers American romcom. Still, the story is worth recounting.
Through a friendly lawyer, Suzanne Egerman (Nora Hamzawi), and his ex-wife, Bertina (an always welcome Léa Drucker), Masson learns about a potentially valuable painting hidden in faraway Mulhouse, an industrial town out in the sticks. The canvas is found in the home of a single mother (Laurence Côte) and her 30-something son, Martin (Arcadi Radeff). When not working at the local chemical factory, Martin hangs out with his two ne’er-do-well friends, Paco (Matthieu Lucci) and Kamel (Ilies Kadri). They are rough but amicable, if a bit awkward around women.
The painting Martin has haphazardly hung in his bedroom is believed by Suzanne to be *Wilted Sunflowers (Autumn Sun II)* (1914), a work by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele. The piece was stolen by the Nazis and presumed lost. When Masson and his team confirm its authenticity, they contact the descendants of the family from whom it was stolen.
Bob Wahlberg (Doug Rand) is astonished and grateful for the discovery. So much so, he proposes that Martin receive a 10 percent cut of the proceeds once the artwork goes up for auction.
Given the historical, artistic, and cultural significance fueling this tale of redemption, one might expect the film to possess more depth or flair. However, Mr. Bonitzer and Ms. Lolic often spend their time either connecting narrative dots to blandly reassuring effect or sprinkling factoids about the characters that feel neither as revealing nor as shocking as intended.
“Auction” attempts high drama, a touch of class analysis, and a dash of gender politics, but ultimately boils down to a likable, easily digestible entertainment. It’s better suited as inflight viewing than a night out on the town.
https://www.nysun.com/article/a-great-story-auction-is-weakened-by-the-directors-dithering