Portrait of a Thief
This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of 23 pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in this back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late- afternoon light, Will Chen could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise.
Portrait of a Thief is Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell, about five Chinese American college students hired for a series of heists to reclaim looted Chinese art. It is based on this true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums.
It has:
- Ambitious Chinese American college students
- Anti-imperialism
- Museum heists
- Fast and Furious-esque street races
- The loss inherent in diaspora