Naman Shrestha
Netflix’s ‘Art of Love’ introduces us to an art thief who is known to break into prestigious and impenetrable museums to steal not the most priceless pieces of art in exhibition but the least valuable ones. This romantic thief has been chased by Alin, an officer of Interpol’s Art Crime Unit, for quite a while but he always manages to stay one step ahead of her. Several years of patience results in her finding out his next target location. When she learns the thief’s identity, she is shocked as it turns out to be the billionaire businessman Güney, with whom she was about to get married. But right before that, he disappeared.
Fueled by what happened in the past, Alin is even more determined to catch Güney. So, in order to catch him red-handed, she devises an elaborate plan. With Recai Karagöz occupying the director’s chair, the Turkish romantic crime film features compelling onscreen performances from a group of talented Turkish actors, including Birkan Sokullu, Esra Bilgiç, Fırat Tanış, Ushan Çakır, and Osman Alkaş. Since art robbery sits at the heart of the narrative and is a real thing, there are bound to be many of you who might have certain questions about the authenticity of the story.
Art of Love is a Work of Fiction
There might be a few aspects in ‘Art of Love’ that might give you the impression of it being based on a true story or a real thief, but the truth of the matter is that the screenwriter Pelin Karamehmetoglu conjured up the tale from scratch, thanks to his creative mind. Usually, an art thief has a reputation for stealing some of the most expensive and valuable pieces of art. But Pelin added several twists in the storyline, one of them being that the art thief in the crime film is not a conventional one — he steals the least valuable art pieces.
Many of you must have heard or read about one or the other art thief, which is why you might feel like Güney is based on an actual art thief. Whether it is the legendary art thief Myles Connor or the greatest living art thief Stéphane Breitwieser, both of them have reportedly stolen hundreds of valuable pieces of art between them. However, Güney’s character mostly resonates with the latter who claimed that he did not steal valuable art for monetary gain but out of love for beautiful things.
Apart from the real world, the world of cinema has also explored the theme of art robbery and thieves, which is another reason why it seems familiar to many of you. You can find similar subject matters in various movies and TV shows, such as ‘The Company You Keep‘ and ‘Confess, Fletch.’ But the 2021 action comedy movie ‘Red Notice‘ consists of many parallels with ‘Art of Love.’ Just like the Turkish film, the Rawson Marshall Thurber directorial also revolves around an Interpol agent attempting to hunt and capture an art thief.
Consisting of a star-studded cast, including Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Ritu Arya, the narrative follows the FBI profiler John Hartley who partners with the world’s greatest art thief Nolan Booth to arrest The Bishop, the world’s most wanted art thief. Besides the similarities in the plotlines, one can even notice a few parallels in the characters of the two movies in question. Thus, keeping in mind all the above-mentioned factors, it would be safe to state that ‘Art of Love’ might consist of realistic themes but it doesn’t change the fact that it is not rooted in reality.
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