In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver, steals Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.
“The Duke” opens with a defiant-looking Jim Broadbent clutching the oak railing in a British court, the defendant on trial for an unlikely art heist. Broadbent plays Kempton Bunton, a former taxi driver accused of stealing a portrait of Arthur Wellesley, a.k.a. The Duke of Wellington, painted by Spanish artist Francisco Goya.
Flashing back six months, Kempton watches British government members announce that they have paid 140,000 pounds of the taxpayers’ money to purchase “The Duke” and place it in London’s National Gallery. Kempton is outraged that the government is willing pays for the painting depicting an aristocrat – money that otherwise could have been spent to provide services for British pensioners. Until 2000, legally obtaining British Broadcasting Corporation signals required viewers of all ages and financial means to pay for a license – a tax on watching broadcast television.
Helen Mirren plays Dorothy Bunton, wife and frequent critic of Kempton. Though she dislikes his inability to hold a job and his incessant concern for the plight of the working class, there is still more to the story. By day, she works in private service as a housekeeper for an upper-class barrister in a well-appointed home in Newcastle.
The unspoken strain between Kempton and Dorothy, always lurking in the background, is the untimely death of their daughter. Kempton’s unpublished and unproduced stories and plays reflect his unresolved guilt. He bought the bicycle his daughter was riding when struck by a car, so he feels responsible.
One of Kempton and Dorothy’s sons, Jackie (Fionn Whitehead), dutifully supports his father to the extent his mother will allow. The couple’s other son, Kenny (Jack Bandeira), tends, by contrast, to look after his own welfare, which apparently includes illicit activities on the side. Their role in the unfolding drama becomes more apparent later in the narrative.
Kempton champions the rights of his fellow workers to a fault in matters such as the length of mandated break periods. After being sacked as a cab driver, this tendency costs him his job at the bread factory. While on a trip to London, Kempton tries to make his case to members of Parliament, to little avail. However, most notably, during his two-day lobbying excursion, “The Duke” goes missing from the National Gallery.
Upon realizing that the painting has been stolen only 19 days after being put on display, the authorities solemnly opine that the crime must be the work of a well-funded and sophisticated international mob. Kempton chuckles as he watches the buffoonish display. Worth noting is that when the officials speak of the public interest, that’s code. What they mean is that their actions reflect their interests.
With the portrait in his possession, Kempton writes a series of letters to the authorities, indicating his demand that elderly British citizens should no longer have to pay the BBC tax. Though investigators make some headway regarding Kempton’s identity – such as his not attending university – they are essentially clueless. The case is broken only when Kempton decides to return the painting to the museum. He is immediately charged with theft and finds himself on trial, pleading not guilty to all charges.
Heather Craney, as the court clerk, turns in a subdued and splendid performance. Barely withholding her laughter at Kempton’s responses to the prosecutor’s questions, she sympathizes with him, as does most of the packed gallery.
Matthew Goode, the court-appointed public defender with a sympathetic ear, further buttresses Kempton’s case by suggesting the portrait was only borrowed to make a statement regarding how the government spends its funds. In a moving closing argument, he likens Kempton’s deeds to a neighbor that borrows a lawnmower and takes some time before returning it. Such procrastination doesn’t make him a thief or necessarily a bad neighbor.
There’s a delightful scene where the first James Bond film “Dr. No” has a little fun with the fate of the purloined artwork. In his first meeting with Dr. No, Sean Connery pauses in the lavish underground lair to admire a portrait on an easel – the still missing Goya piece, now in possession of SPECTRE.
Directed by Roger Michell, who died unexpectedly last year, the film never fails to hit the mark. Written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman based on actual events, “The Duke” tells a compelling story about a man willing to speak the truth to power and suffer the consequences accordingly.
Available on Blu-ray™, DVD, and Digital July 26th
