For the next Doc Club Online, we are going to be discussing The Painter and the Thief. Ahead of the conversation the Deal Film Club Young Programmers have written some reviews offering new perspectives on a facinating documentary.
Thomas Gooch
This heart-wrenching documentary feels like fiction, such is its absurd story. The subjects are laid bare in this harrowingly honest interrogation of relationships, addiction and criminality. Unexpected friendships blossom while other relationships are tested. Ree’s camera is seemingly unnoticed, creating an intimacy with its subjects which is very rarely seen. Unafraid to get to the heart of the subjects, this documentary is truly engaging. The gender-reversal of the male thief inspiring the female painter as her muse adds to the complexity of the subjects who we can’t help but fall in love with. This film will make its home in your heart long after you’ve watched it.
Willow Garms
The Painter and The Thief / Review / Willow Garms / ★★★
In a time where we’re all craving intimacy, The Painter and The Thief is an unexpected look at human closeness.
As witness to Karl-Bertil Nordland (and accomplice) stealing two of Barbora Kysilkova’s paintings, you’d be fooled into believing this was more true crime fodder, Prime-d for a binge. But an unlikely bond between the painter and the thief makes it easy to forget there has been a theft at all.
Glimmers of fragility betray the facades of both protaganists so fatally that any preconceptions of their initial characters dissolve and we are transported from the comfort of familiar doc-format into something much more akin to drama.
The instability of this film is it’s pentimento. A narrative which questions the brackets of human interaction, guided by a genre spilling out of it’s box.
Watch to feel-good, feel-sad and feel hopeful. That what you see is not always what you get.
Samuel Hayes
An intimate portrait of two broken souls. Beginning as a true-crime in which burglars plunder an artist's gallery, this documentary takes an unexpected U-turn into observing an unlikely friendship form between Barbara Kysilkova and Karl-Bertil Nordland, the titular painter and thief.
Shot over several years in Norway, director Benjamin Ree slowly deconstructs the psychology behind both of their professions. Barbara begins as the artist and Karl-Bertil as her subject, but as time goes by those roles slowly reverse as they examine each other through a series of lengthy conversations. Like the naturalism of Barbara's paintings the film plays out in a raw and honest manner, openly tackling mental health and their shared attraction to self-destruction.
For some its sedate pacing could drag around its middle section as its narrative direction is not immediately clear. Despite this the Painter And The Thief emerges as an empathetic triumph; a plea to understand and not impulsively judge the actions of others.
Lola Cook
The Painter and The Thief, showcases the importance of friendship, lack of judgement, and the willingness of second chances. The documentary highlights the unlikely friendship between a painter and the thief who stole her paintings, and takes us on a journey of recovery and understanding how we can change certain decisions we have made. It’s development of allowing both individuals to seek a second chance at life through helping each other, realising that someone is worth more than what society deems them, and the hardships and mistakes they have faced, which is what gripped me the most in this story. The development of these individuals showcased the good, the bad and the ugly, the important small things such as our likes and dislikes, that make up more than what you can see on the outside. For me this story laid a true foundation of overcoming obstacles, creating new friendships that will impact your life in all the right ways, and more importantly the moral message of working on yourself, and allowing yourself to find self-love. We all struggle with everyday battles, but finding the courage to seek help in the most unlikely of people, to change your perspective of yourself is what I found so beautiful about this story, and allowed me to think about myself from a different perspective.
Calum Benson
The Painter and The Thief, showcases the importance of friendship, lack of judgement, and the willingness of second chances. The documentary highlights the unlikely friendship between a painter and the thief who stole her paintings, and takes us on a journey of recovery and understanding how we can change certain decisions we have made. It’s development of allowing both individuals to seek a second chance at life through helping each other, realising that someone is worth more than what society deems them, and the hardships and mistakes they have faced, which is what gripped me the most in this story. The development of these individuals showcased the good, the bad and the ugly, the important small things such as our likes and dislikes, that make up more than what you can see on the outside. For me this story laid a true foundation of overcoming obstacles, creating new friendships that will impact your life in all the right ways, and more importantly the moral message of working on yourself, and allowing yourself to find self-love. We all struggle with everyday battles, but finding the courage to seek help in the most unlikely of people, to change your perspective of yourself is what I found so beautiful about this story, and allowed me to think about myself from a different perspective.
Click here for more information about the next Doc Club Online. Here you will find information about how to watch the film and how to join the conversation on Wednesday 20 January.
