Projects matching: Paul Tickell

Synopsis

American art appraiser, Patrick Donovan, is sent to Venice to authenticate three classical paintings belonging to the famous Galleria dell' Accademia. Arriving during heavy rains, he finds the Galleria besieged by floods and closed to the public. With the floodwaters rapidly rising, he examines two Bellinis and confirms that they are indeed authentic but before he can get to Giorgione's The Tempest, it is stolen in a violent attack which leaves Donovan and Chiara, the beautiful daughter of the director of the Galleria, injured. Police and media interest is high and Donovan unwittingly finds himself at the centre of the investigation into the disappearance of the priceless masterpiece.   What follows is a highly stylised and complex web of mystery, intrigue and betrayal which unfolds against the ghostly backdrop of the Venetian waterways. Donovan determines to uncover the truth behind the disappearing painting but soon finds himself at the mercy of a corrupt art collector, a petty thief and, ultimately, a deadly seductress.

Synopsis

Christie Malry is a simple man. He lives with his mother and works in a bank. He discovers the principles of Double Entry Book-Keeping, for every Debit there must be a Credit, and the picture becomes clear: Debit Christie for offence received, Credit society for offence given. Christie opens his account with society and the reckoning begins, all accounts to be settled in full. His mother dies, he gets a girlfriend, the future looks bright. He starts to make the books balance with seemingly trivial acts of vandalism, but the clearer Christie sees the more he is owed and his actions escalate and all the while he remains in the eyes of the world a lowly clerk. Christie Malry is unstoppable but is brought to book in the end with bitter irony. With Christie's discovery of Double Entry we are thrown back in time to 15th century Italy and the inventor of modern accounting, a Dominican priest Fra Luca Pacioli. The past and present interweave. This is a black comedy, a fable for our time. Christie is the logical conclusion of a society devoted to money and its acquistion at all costs.