La pintora y el ladrón

When a struggling (is there any other kind?) visual artist has a chance to confront the thief of her precious paintings, she does so in a strange, friendly approach of curiosity. Soon the two are meeting for tea and deep conversation. A film so seemingly plot driven is actually a stark documentary, one of those crazy miracles where the filmmaker is in the right place at the right time, and an enthralling story develops before his lens. Benjamin Ree captures their tale in gorgeous shots, unfettered dialogue, and stealthiness. Hard to believe that there wasn't any staging involved, as there is total absence of camera intrusions, or director interference.

"The Painter and the Thief" works on so many levels, but it is the startling relationship that develops between artist and her new found muse that is the heart of this fire. Obviously upset at her loss, Barbora Kysilkova quickly moves her emotions to dig deep into the psyche of the troubled Karl-Bertil, offering branches of support and friendship. He returns the favour, but struggles to shed his bad boy lifestyle, and lapses. Whether Barbora is truly offering up a humanitarian hand, or using the danger boy as artistic inspiration, or both, is an interesting question that looms throughout.

Each are enthralling characters, with definitely wildly divergent career paths, that have become entangled like wild weeds of infatuation. Its an enlightening look at how humans interact with each other, who we choose to interact with, what we are looking for, and why do we look in the first place? Deep down inside: are we, or are we not, good?

How can this possibly end well? There's only one way to find out.

• hipCRANK

Thank you all who worked on this movie for bringing us this beautiful experience. Even though it's documentary it's unrealistically filmy. I mean how would the documentary people would have committed to spend time money and effort without knowing how the story would unfold. That makes it a masterpiece of visual experience. Btw last scene showing Barbora's master piece leaves more questions than answers. It's a beautiful beautiful painting. Barbora you're a absolutely unrealistically beautiful and kind human being. I wish you all the best with your career. I hope and pray that you are a successful artist. Thank you all for this movie.

Not a dry eye in the theatre at its premiere last Friday morning at Sundance. At times, it almost seemed fictional because of the bizarre twists and turns you are taken on as the story unfolds. I sat mesmerized watching as it truly is a beautiful, inspiring story. The "Painter" and the "Thief" are both remarkable individuals. The cinematography was tight; amazing artwork, too. All in all a feel great experience, without being too cheesy. Have some Kleenex on hand. :)

Really good and beautifully crafted. Almost like a love story

This weekend, thanks to IDA (International Documentary Association), I was given the opportunity to watch Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Ree's documentary, "The Painter and the Thief." The film follows the 3 year journey of Czech artist living in Norway, Barbora Kysilkova, and her attempt to locate several of her paintings stolen from an art gallery. Barbora connects at the trial with caught ringleader, Karl-Bertil Nordland, a career criminal fighting a heroin addiction and a (possibly)feigned memory loss of the theft, and offers to paint his self-portrait, in hopes this may help her find out the whereabouts of the stolen paintings. What follows this initial meeting between the two is an unexpected friendship and empathetic bond over the next 3 years. Without giving anything away, the documentary's ending is rather extraordinary.