The Painter and the Thief

A photo-realist painter asks to do a portrait of the thief who stole her masterpiece from an Oslo museum. He complies and some strange variation of Stockholm emerges, tats and all. The Painter and Thief is a documentary like none you have seen before-the crime is real, and the principles are the originals. Weird and complicated as the real crime was, this documentary beats it by a Louvre mile.

Barbora Kysilkova had been a minor Czech photo realism star now settled in Norway. When Karl Bertil-Nordland steals two of her paintings, he is distraught enough that to agree to the portrait. Why she needs to do it would confuse a convention of Freudians, why he does is inscrutable because he can't even remember why he committed it in the first place. Or rather, he doesn't offer his drug intake as excuse.

The Painter and the Thief eschews the usual documentary over- analysis of subjects because there is not an iota of chance that either understands their reasons. As far as the realism of a documentary, like Christopher Nolan, director Benjamin Ree skillfully upends the usual chronology and logic to play with their time together and ours to figure out the real reason this is happening.

Not that we ever get to that point. Bertil turns out to be much more than an addled addict obsessed with an artist, and in that resolution of character, the film takes off into the abstract world of artistic intent, inspiration, an truth. Bertil's untutored passion for artistic expression (try to take your eyes off his tats-you can't because like his disoriented life, there appears to be no reason for the designs until he starts to explain them). Same with the film, so keep reading good critics if you want to find Ree's labyrinth.

Perhaps this film is memorable because it looks like boilerplate docudrama and it isn't or because it looks like art and it is actually life not completely understood. If you are reading this review, you'll be happy to be seduced by the ineffability of art. This is not a documentary; it is art.

As an artist I have always known of the many healing powers of art... but this film shows the layers upon layers of healing all while keeping you on the edge of your seat... Absolutely phenomenal.

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. :)

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

The Painter and the Thief is about both art and the art of being human. It's a brilliant, beautiful dogma-ish film presented as a documentary.

Just watch it. It's charming and utterly engaging and it doesn't matter whether or not it's a documentary- it just is and that's what matters.