Smitten

With his shuffling gait and workaday clothes, Rene di Rosa—the subject of Nancy Kelly's documentary Smitten— resembles a retired farmer, but viewers will discover there's more to Di Rosa than meets the eye in this entertaining look at one man's lifetime passion. Now in his mid-80s and slowed by a stroke, Rene is obsessed with collecting and displaying art; in fact, this former reporter and vineyard owner has about five acres near Napa, CA devoted to exhibiting a world class collection of regional art. Di Rosa keeps busy visiting auctions and using his limited income to collect the works of up and coming artists (indeed, artists are often his best friends and while he likes to talk about art, Di Rosa is hardly stuffy—jokingly describing one whimsical sculpture as "art you can kick"). Combining interviews with di Rosa as well as friends and associates, the program also follows Rene as he points out various pieces in his collection, which include playful, provocative, and sometimes disturbing examples, notably a remarkable life-size figure of a dying AIDS victim. Di Rosa knows that art is meant to be shared, and the film concludes with his taking some art on the road in a traveling exhibit that reaches new and appreciative audiences in larger museums. An eloquent tribute to a life well lived, this profile is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)