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New words:
1. “You sound bitter” – to sound angry
2. Knack - a skill or an ability to do something easily and well
3. Afresh - If you do something afresh, you deal with it again in a new way
4. Torment - great mental suffering and unhappiness, or great physical pain

Summary:
The film tells a story of love and deceit |dɪˈsiːt|, set in Europe - in the world of ultra
high-end art auctions and antiques. The story revolves around Virgil Oldman
(Geoffrey Rush), a wealthy and esteemed director of a preeminent auction house.
Oldman is hired by a mysterious young woman, Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks), to
auction off the large collection of art and antiques left to her by her parents. Claire
always refuses to be seen in person, suffering from severe agoraphobia and never
leaving her room. She decided to trust Oldman though as he suffers himself
from OCD. Soon enough Virgil, a lifelong bachelor |ˈbætʃələ| who is able to relate
to her reclusiveness, understands that he has fallen in love with her.
An young artificer, Robert (Jim Sturgess), aids Oldman in reassembling some odd
mechanical parts that he finds among Claire's belongings, while also giving him
advice on how to befriend her, and how to deal with his feelings towards her.
Oldman's poise and prestige are counterpointed by an ongoing scam whereby his
friend Billy Whistler (Donald Sutherland) helps him acquire a large private
collection of master portraits worth many millions, by presenting them at auction
as the work of other artists. Billy is an aspiring artist himself, but Oldman does not
take Billy's work seriously.
Oldman eventually begins a relationship with Ibbetson, compromising his work. At
the peak of the relationship, Claire overcomes her fear of the outside world and
Virgil lies aside his gloves. Claire goes on to live with Virgil, who trusts the fragile
Claire enough to show her his secret priceless collection of female portraits.
Overcome with emotion, Claire tells Virgil that no matter what may happen to the
two of them, she does love him. Virgil returns home one day to find that his entire
collection and Claire are gone. In the vault is an automaton constructed from the
mechanical parts Virgil gave to Robert, which plays a message from Robert saying
there is something real in every forgery |ˈfɔːdʒ(ə)rɪ| and that is why Robert will
truly miss Virgil. Virgil realizes that he is the victim of an elaborate fraud
conducted by Robert, Claire, and Billy, but is unable to go to the police due to the
illicit means by which Virgil himself acquired the pieces. After months of
recovering from the betrayal in a mental institution, Virgil takes a trip to Prague |
prɑːɡ|, where he spends time sitting in a restaurant that Claire had once suggested.
The restaurant was filled with clocks, a reminder to his OCD. He sits there waiting
alone at a table wondering if Claire's statement of love was forged |fɔːdʒd| or a
genuine sentiment she imparted on the con.