The Duke

In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a family man living in Newcastle, confessed to stealing Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from London's National Gallery.

Tall tales are all the more enjoyable in movie form when they're true. "The Duke" is particularly captivating for describing an event just beyond our remembering, and the audience readily buys into suspense surrounding the outcome as the gavel could fall either way. Entertainment is largely assured by the genial protagonist, a fruit-box-standing, idealistic social revolutionary as droll as he is eccentric, all backed up by an authentic portrayal of the era. Another Waterloo.

British Film Festival 2021
Transmission Films 95 mins