The Last Vermeer

Last updated
The Last Vermeer
The Last Vermeer.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Dan Friedkin
Screenplay by
Based onThe Man Who Made Vermeers
by Jonathan Lopez
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Remi Adefarasin
Edited byVictoria Boydell
Music by Johan Söderqvist
Production
companies
  • Imperative Entertainment
  • NL Film
Distributed by TriStar Pictures (through Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release dates
  • August 31, 2019 (2019-08-31)(Telluride)
  • November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20)(United States)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$683,545 [1]

The Last Vermeer is a 2019 American drama film directed by Dan Friedkin from a screenplay by John Orloff (under the pen name James McGee), Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby. It is based on the 2008 book The Man Who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez, and tells the story of Han van Meegeren (played by Guy Pearce), an art maker who swindles millions of dollars from the Nazis, alongside Dutch Resistance fighter Joseph Piller (Claes Bang).

Contents

The film had its worldwide release at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, 2020, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Plot

At the end of the Second World War, Captain Joseph Piller is a Dutch Jew who works for the Canadian military administration of the Netherlands after having been in the resistance during the German occupation. After receiving a tip about a painting by Johannes Vermeer that was recovered in Austria from Hermann Goering's private collection, Piller and his assistant Dekker arrest Han van Meegeren, an easy-living artist and dealer who sold the painting to Goering, on charges of collaboration with the enemy and using the proceeds from the sale to finance an Abwehr espionage network. However, after encountering a group of Dutch authorities led by De Klerks who want to take full custody of Han, Piller, who fears that Van Meegeren would either be allowed to escape or be subjected to a wholesale postwar witch-hunt of collaborators, transfers Han to a safehouse and prevents De Klerks and his men from entering, citing Allied protection.

As Piller interrogates Han over the painting's sale, Han successfully demands that he be supplied with materials to produce a canvas as evidence and explains throughout his custody his origins. After his paintings were negatively received by art critics before the war, he proceeded to be the source of multiple paintings by Vermeer that were discovered throughout the 1930s and used the profits from his discovery to fund a rich lifestyle which further grew through his cooperation with the Nazis, which he claims to be a front as he detests them in private. He finally claims that the recovered Vermeer was a fake and provides Piller with several people who could prove his case, raising doubts on Piller's part about Han's guilt. Sometime later, the Allied forces leave the Netherlands and leave Piller unable to prevent De Klerks from taking custody of Han, who faces the death penalty for his role in the theft of Dutch cultural treasures such as the Vermeer by the Nazis.

Piller, now working as a laborer, is visited by his secretary Minna, who tells him that a portrait by Vermeer that was supposedly discovered by Han looks similar to his lover Cootje. Returning to the now-abandoned safehouse, Piller finds Han's unfinished canvas, which turns out to be the same painting that was recovered from the Nazis. Convinced that Han is telling the truth, Piller agrees to defend Han in court and learns that he was able to forge multiple works of art using bakelite, which was only invented in the 20th century, and by heating and crumpling the canvas to make it look old.

At his trial, Han insists that he had forged the artworks being used as evidence against him and points out that he had painted Piller in his canvas, but the prosecution, aided by art critics who had initially authenticated the paintings, convince the judges to convict Han. Immediately after Han is sentenced to death, Piller arranges for Dekker to cause a disturbance in the courtroom as a distraction and splashes acid on one of the paintings, revealing Han's signature. Han's conviction is overturned, and he is greeted as a hero by the public.

Days later, De Klerks visits Piller and presents him with a book recovered from the safehouse that contained a dedication by Han addressed to Adolf Hitler. Realizing that Han had lied over his Nazi sympathies, Piller confronts Han at his house, but the latter dismisses him. Disgusted, Piller leaves and burns the book.

Cast

Production

On April 25, 2018, it was announced that Imperative Entertainment had begun production on Lyrebird, a film directed by Dan Friedkin and produced by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by James McGee, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. [2] [3] [4] [5] The film is Friedkin's directorial debut. [6]

Alongside the film's initial announcement, it was confirmed that Guy Pearce, Claes Bang, Vicky Krieps, and Roland Møller had been cast in film's lead roles. [3] Principal photography for the film was underway by April 2018, taking place in the United Kingdom and Holland. [3] On May 22, 2018, filming took place at Fort Widley in Portsmouth, England. [7] In April and August 2018, filming took place in Dordrecht and Schiedam, Netherlands.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2019. [8] [9] It also screened at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2019. [10] Prior to, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film for North and Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Asia, with FilmNation Entertainment handling sales elsewhere. [11] It was scheduled to be released on May 22, 2020, [12] but was pulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] It was then released on November 20, 2020, with TriStar Pictures distributing instead of Sony Pictures Classics. [14]

Reception

Box office

The film made $1,225,000 from 1912 theaters in its opening weekend. [15]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Led by a skilled performance from Guy Pearce, The Last Vermeer derives diverting drama from its historically inspired wartime story." [16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [17] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an average 4 out of 5 stars. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Vermeer</span> Dutch painter (1632–1675)

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognized in Delft and The Hague. He produced relatively few paintings, primarily earning his living as an art dealer. He was not wealthy; at his death, his wife was left in debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Han van Meegeren</span> Dutch painter and art forger (1889–1947)

Henricus Antonius "Han" van Meegeren was a Dutch painter and portraitist, considered one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century. Van Meegeren became a national hero after World War II when it was revealed that he had sold a forged painting to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viggo Mortensen</span> American actor (born 1958)

Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. is an American actor, musician, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for three Academy Awards for Best Actor, three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and an Independent Spirit Award.

David Magee is an American screenwriter who was nominated for a 2004 Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Finding Neverland. Along with Simon Beaufoy, he wrote the screenplay for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams, which was released in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teller (magician)</span> American magician (born 1948)

Teller is an American magician. He is half of the comedy magic duo Penn & Teller, along with Penn Jillette, and usually does not speak during performances. Teller is a H.L. Mencken Fellow at the Cato Institute.

A Question of Attribution is a 1988 one-act stage play, written by Alan Bennett. It focuses on the British art expert and former Soviet agent, Sir Anthony Blunt. It was premiered at the National Theatre, London, on 1 December 1988, directed by Simon Callow. The stage version of An Englishman Abroad, about Blunt's fellow agent Guy Burgess, was also performed on the same bill. The two plays are collectively called Single Spies.

Jonathan Lopez is an American writer and art historian. He was educated in the public schools of New York City, including the Bronx High School of Science, and in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stage 6 Films</span> American film producer

Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film production label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films that are low budget and that are being released direct-to-disc, on demand, or through streaming services. Some of their films are also being released theatrically. Once a film is finished, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will decide if the film will be released theatrically or on a different platform.

<i>The Procuress</i> (Dirck van Baburen) Number of similar paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter Dirck van Baburen

The Procuress is the name given to a number of similar paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter Dirck van Baburen. The painting is in the Caravaggiesque style of the Utrecht school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicky Krieps</span> Luxembourgish actress (born 1983)

Vicky Krieps is a Luxembourgish-German actress. She has appeared in a number of American, Luxembourgish, French and German productions. Her breakout role was in the period film Phantom Thread (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alois Miedl</span> German-born Dutch Nazi banker and art dealer

Alois Miedl was a naturalized Dutch art dealer, originally a German Nazi banker, born in Munich, who had moved to and was mainly active in the Netherlands, involved with the sales of properties stolen from Jews who had fled or had been deported.

Thomas Dan Friedkin is an American businessman and film producer. He is the owner and CEO of The Friedkin Group which was founded by his father, Thomas H. Friedkin. He is also the owner and president of Serie A club Roma. As of December 2023, his estimated net worth is US$6.1 billion. In September 2024, he agreed to buy a 94.1% stake of ownership in Everton from Farhad Moshiri.

<i>The Girl in the Spiders Web</i> (film) 2018 film by Fede Álvarez

The Girl in the Spider's Web is a 2018 action thriller film directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jay Basu and Steven Knight, based on the 2015 novel of the same name by David Lagercrantz, which in turn was based on characters introduced in the Millennium book series by Stieg Larsson. The film acts as a soft reboot and sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). It stars Claire Foy in the role of Lisbeth Salander, and follows Salander as she battles against a mysterious notorious organization, the Spiders, who seek world dominance. Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, and Stephen Merchant appear in supporting roles.

<i>The Burnt Orange Heresy</i> 2019 crime thriller film

The Burnt Orange Heresy is a 2019 crime thriller film directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and with a screenplay by Scott Smith. The film is based on the book of the same name by Charles Willeford and stars Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, and Donald Sutherland.

<i>Dracula</i> (2020 TV series) 2020 British horror television series

Dracula is a horror drama television serial developed by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, loosely based on the 1897 novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. The series, consisting of three episodes, premiered on 1 January 2020 and was broadcast over three consecutive days on BBC One before releasing on Netflix. Claes Bang stars as the title character.

The Dragon Tattoo film series consists in films based on the Millennium book series, which were written by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz. The plot centers around Lisbeth Salander, an asocial computer hacker, and Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist and publisher of a magazine called Millennium, as they investigate criminal injustices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Nattiv</span> Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter

Guy Nattiv is an Israeli film director, screenwriter and producer who lives and works in the United States. His film Skin won an Oscar for best short film at the 91st Academy Awards. As of May 2021, Nattiv and Moshe Mizrahi were the only Israeli directors to have won an Academy award.

<i>The Survivor</i> (2021 film) 2021 Canada-US biographical drama film

The Survivor is a 2021 biographical drama film directed by Barry Levinson, from a screenplay by Justine Juel Gillmer. Ben Foster stars as Harry Haft, a real-life survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he boxed fellow inmates to survive. Vicky Krieps, Billy Magnussen, Peter Sarsgaard, John Leguizamo, and Danny DeVito co-star. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021, and was released on HBO on April 27, 2022. The film received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Foster's lead performance. The film was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Television Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Vermeer in popular culture</span>

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class life. His works have been a common theme in literature and films in popular culture since the rediscovery of his works by 20th century art scholars.

<i>The New Look</i> (TV series) American biographical drama television series

The New Look is an American biographical drama television series created by Todd A. Kessler that premiered on Apple TV+ on February 14, 2024. A second season is in development.

References

  1. "The Last Vermeer (2020)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  2. Barfield, Charles (February 27, 2020). "'The Last Vermeer' Trailer: Claes Bang, Vicky Krieps & Guy Pearce Star In This Post-WWII Thriller". The Playlist. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 25, 2018). "Guy Pearce Stars & Imperative's Dan Friedkin Directs 'Lyrebird', About Art Forger Whose Paintings Duped Nazis". Deadline. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  4. Kroll, Justin (April 25, 2018). "Guy Pearce, Claes Bang, Vicky Krieps and Roland Moller Join Imperative's 'Lyrebird'". Variety. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  5. "Guy Pearce, 'Phantom Thread' Star Vicky Krieps Board Art Forgery Drama 'Lyrebird'". The Hollywood Reporter. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  6. "The Last Vermeer". SFFilm. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  7. Salkeld, Millie (May 22, 2018). "Portsmouth road closed due to filming for Ridley Scott movie". The News . Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  8. Hammond, Pete (August 29, 2019). "Telluride Film Festival: 'Ford V Ferrari', 'Judy', 'Motherless Brooklyn', Weinstein-Inspired Drama 'The Assistant' Among Premieres Headed To 46th Edition – Full List". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  9. "Telluride Program Guide" (PDF). Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  10. "Lyrebird". Toronto International Film Festival . Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  11. Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 11, 2019). "Toronto: Sony Pictures Classics Taking North America + On Dan Friedkin-Directed Post-WWII Drama 'Lyrebird'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  12. Billington, Alex (February 27, 2020). "Claes Bang & Vicky Krieps in First Trailer for 'The Last Vermeer' Film". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  13. "Sony Classics knows the right way to date films in the midst of a pandemic: THE LAST VERMEER (TBA) I CARRY YOU WITH ME (TBA) THE HUMAN FACTOR (TBA)". Twitter. March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  14. N'Duka, Amanda (October 22, 2020). "Sony Dates Guy Pearce Crime Drama 'The Last Vermeer', Releases New Trailer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  15. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 22, 2020). "'Freaky' Leads & Jackie Chan's 'Vanguard' Tries To Throw A Punch During A Truly Depressed Box Office Weekend". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  16. "The Last Vermeer (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  17. "The Last Vermeer Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved December 2, 2020.