When the art dealer husband of Esther, a magazine journalist in Paris, brings home an 18th- century painting for an upcoming auction, she is startled to discover her father emotionally stunned at the sight of it. In seeking to find the cause of his discomfort, she follows a trail that leads through her parents and their friends during the war, Nazi art confiscations, conspiracies between her Jewish elders, and government cover-ups. Her job is threatened, and surveillance photos of herself are emailed to her phone.
It's a bit painful to watch a fairly strong cast labor to try to make such a poorly written film work. One might be tempted to suppose the English subtitles have left too much out, but large plot holes, overlong shots that add nothing to the story, and unresolved threads suggest otherwise. This is basically an interesting plot situation, with some decent acting and stylish design and camera work, but in the end it's not a very intelligent movie.
Poor Anna Sigalevitch, who mostly does a creditable job in the lead, is forced to perform a shower scene and an erotic reconciliation with her husband that are utterly gratuitous. Best scene is her confrontation with her powerful, menacing uncle, played by veteran French actor Michel Bouquet, who sells a fairly pedestrian piece of plotting and dialogue with tremendous conviction and ambiguity.
