| Incognito | |
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Film Poster |
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| Directed by | John Badham |
| Written by | Jordan Katz |
| Starring | Jason Patric Irene Jacob Thoma Lockyer Ian Richardson Rod Steiger |
| Music by | John Ottman |
| Studio | Morgan Creek Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 13, 1998 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Incognito is a 1998 crime thriller starring Jason Patric and Irene Jacob.
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Filming was done in England, The Netherlands, and France.
The talented New York artist Harry Donovan (Jason Patric) is an expert in forging famous artists' paintings, but is struggling to become a legitimate artist in his own right. He takes a job forging a long lost Rembrandt for $500,000 from three art dealer clients (Thomas Lockyer as Alistair Davies, Simon Chandler as Ian Hill, and Togo Igawa as Agachi), against the wishes of his painter father (Rod Steiger) who wants Harry to give up forgery and concentrate on his own work. He takes the job anyway and travels to France to study Rembrandt, where he meets the beautiful Rembrandt expert Prof. Marieke van den Broeck (Irene Jacob) and soon they got involved in a romantic affair. Harry paints his "Rembrandt" in an attic studio in Amsterdam using period materials and a photograph of his own father. He then journeys to Spain where a local farmer has been paid to claim to have "found" the painting. Harry and the three clients then return to London with the painting for a final authentication by an expert, which Harry is stunned to see is Marieke. Several experts agree that the painting is a genuine Rembrandt, but Marieke does not. Things get more complicated when he tries to collect his fee for the painting and is double crossed by the clients. He steals back the painting and makes his getaway. Davies shots and kills Agachi, and frames Harry for the murder and the theft of the painting. He flees, forcing Marieke to go with him, but is eventually arrested. During his trial he tries to prove his innocence by duplicating the painting in open court and show that the painting is fake. This plot device is an allusion to the real life 1947 trial of Han van Meegeren. His inner turmoil over the recent death of his father and his fathers wishes for him to give up forgery cause him to give up on the painting, claiming "Only Rembrandt can paint a Rembrandt." He is saved when Hill testifies that Harry had not committed the murder, but that it had actually been committed by Davies. After Harry is released from jail, Hill auctions the painting and expects to reap the large price it has netted. Harry in the mean time has sent a letter to the farmer in Spain explaining the matter. Because of the way Spanish law concerning such matters works, the government has first right of purchase, which they option, and purchase the painting from its discoverer, the Spanish farmer. Harry travels to Spain and the farmer in gratitude splits the money with him. He then travels to meet Marieke, to whom he gives a portrait of herself he has painted in his own style.
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