The Painter and the Thief – Kunstneren og tyven (2020)

Directed by: Benjamin Ree | 103 minutes | documentary | Starring: Karl Bertil-Nordland, Barbora Kysilkova, Zystein Stene

In 2015, two oil paintings are stolen from an art gallery in Oslo. Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova is devastated. The thieves are arrested a few days later, but the paintings remain untraceable. During the trial, Barbora confronts one of the perpetrators in hopes of getting her artwork back. Karl-Bertil Nordland, a drug addict and career criminal, confesses to stealing the paintings. Although Karl-Bertil is convinced of his role in the theft, he claims that he no longer knows where he has hidden the works of art. Barbora believes him without a doubt, but she does have a proposition to the thief: “I would like to make a portrait of you.”

The idea for ‘The Painter and the Thief’ came about when filmmaker Benjamin Ree read about the theft in the newspaper. He contacted Barbora Kysilkova and Karl-Bertil Nordland, requesting permission to document their painting sessions. The Norwegian film originally started as a short documentary of several minutes. But the path led elsewhere, and the original short film grew into a nearly two-hour documentary. The result is a unique, yet disturbing account of an unlikely friendship.

In ‘The Painter and the Thief’ we follow the blossoming bond between Barbora and Karl-Bertil. The film shows their friendship in a non-chronological way, so that at times the viewer does not have the same level of knowledge as the two main characters. The story unfolds gradually, without haste, but nevertheless with a series of remarkable twists. As the plot progresses, the question marks pile up at a steady pace. Who are these people really? And more importantly, what are their intentions?

The documentary begins playfully, with a strong focus on humor. When this initial atmosphere changes and takes on a new, foreboding shape, we wonder if we shouldn’t have seen this coming much sooner. When Kysilkova first visits Karl-Bertil’s house, she is pleasantly surprised by his extensive art collection. She looks at an old print by a German master. “This may well be the original,” she says. The alarm bells should have gone off right away.

But even on Kysilkova’s side, things are not always as they seem. At one point, her partner asks her why she spends so much time with Karl-Bertil, which she finds a strange question from her own perspective. Nevertheless, her whole life suffers from frequent contact with the frequent offender, from her work to her financial situation, and she constantly pushes the moral limit in the relationship. Still, Kysilkova tries to justify everything. It is no longer about her stolen paintings, but about herself.

With ‘The Painter and the Thief’ it is crucial with which thought you approach the documentary. If you are convinced that everything is simply fake, the film will not work as well as if you think it is all real. And yes, there are indeed certain moments in the documentary that are on the verge of credibility. You then have to ask yourself whether certain pieces have not been staged. On the other hand, real life is often many times more peculiar than fiction and mere chance is a common phenomenon. The truth, as is often the case, may be somewhere in the middle, which in the end takes nothing away from the qualities of ‘The Painter and the Thief’. The dubious story is intriguing from start to finish.