Benjamin Ree: The Painter and the Thief
This fascinating film premiered at Sundance, is about to go into theatres in Sweden and Norway , and is in the Best Documentary Competition at Nordisk Panorama, that runs until September 27. It’s an amazing story with extraordinary characters with unusual personal backgrounds – it’s a thriller about stolen art, a psychological drama, a love story, shot over years , with characters that develop, to say the least, a dramaturgy that breaks rules, with several twists, it’s lovely off mainstream documentary storytelling. I was hooked from start till end.
It would be wrong of me to reveal totally, where the story goes, not so say where it ends. So, let me give you the starting point: Barbora, Czech painter living in Norway, has two of her paintings stolen from a gallery. One of the thiefs, Karl-Bertil, is identified via surveillance cameras, and in the courtroom the painter goes to the thief to ask if she may paint a portrait of him. They meet, she paints him, her style is photorealism – and the two builds up a strong emotional relationship. He is a drug addict, he can’t remember, where the stolen paintings went, they stay in contact, she helps him, he helps her; the story is told from the angles of them both. Barbora’s boyfriend, Øystein, who took her away from a violent relationship in Berlin, asks her why she is drawn to the destructive that Karl-Bertil represents, and if she is aware of the moral responsibility she takes helping him. The couple seeks therapy help. The un-chronologically told story gives the viewer surprising background information on Karl-Bertil, and the director of the film succeeds to paint (sorry!) a portrait of a man with many faces. Far from the usual “just another junkie”.
A film full of energetic scenes, touching, entertaining. Watch it!
