“The Duke”, Goya’s eccentric thief

Inspired by a true story, “The Duke”, which hits theaters on Wednesday May 11, is the portrait of a grumbler, a perpetual rebel who takes his son into his many battles. Bunton refuses, among other things, to pay the royalty. In 1961, Kempton Bunton managed to steal a painting by Goya bought at a high price by the British government. With the help of his son, he hides the portrait of the Duke of Wellington in his room and demands a ransom. The police had failed to find the perpetrator of the theft and the ransom had not been paid.

Four years after the theft, Kempton Bunton, a retired taxi driver, returned the painting. “His head may not be in the right place, but his heart is in the right place”, says actress Helen Mirren, who plays Bunton’s wife. The trial of this eccentric man has remained in the annals. For the verdict, it’s all in this British social comedy.