'The Painter And The Thief' A Review

The Painter And The Thief is a documentary about Czech painter Barbora and Norwegian thief Karl-Bertil. At the beginning of the movie we learn that during a showing of Barbora's two of her prized paintings were stolen in broad daylight. The suspects are quickly apprehended and at the trial Barbora approaches Karl-Bertil and asks him to sit for a portrait which he agrees to. What then follows is an unlikely, as well as co-dependent and clearly unhealthy, friendship.

The conceit of the movie is certainly interesting, this exceedingly unlikely meet-cute, and the two main subjects compelling human beings but the result is rather a gross portrait of two messy struggling people, more voyeurism verging on exploitation than compassionate portrayl. Not that they are gross people but both Barbora and Karl-Bertil are so clearly and transparently unwell and destructive that there is no real insight to be found, no real transformation, no real story save for the utterly common and mundane condition of suffering. Not to minimize either of the subjects however there is nothing new or revelatory about what's happening and without some light, without hope the movie ultimately offers not much more than the morbid fascination of a car wreck.

Karl-Bertil is an addict, there is no fascinating darkness to him, no hidden depth to be primed. Not to say he isn't a complicated interesting man but for the majority of the movie he is simply hitting bottom, the desperation and pain of an addict is sad, heartbreaking even, but what it is not is fodder for fascination. Thankfully he seems to, eventually, come out clean but there is little time spent on this part of his story, there seems to be little to know awareness about what addiction even is especially from Barbora herself. She repeatedly asks him about the paintings, why he stole them, what he did with them, and his response is he was blacked out, which she can't accept. The movie doesn't really question this, but the simple truth is he is a drug addict, that is the answer, there is no hidden allure to her art, some hidden magnetism between the two, which the movie tends to imply. He was high, he saw them, he stole them, that's it.

Barbora also clearly has some mental health issues of her own with a traumatic past that the movie refers to. Her relationship with Karl-Bertil is meant to be sweet but the reality is it's co-dependent, enabling, and almost vampyric. It's not interesting it's sad and sometimes gross. That doesn't mean that these two aren't good people but they are in a very bad place during the course of the movie and it is struggle and suffering that shouldn't be recorded because its questionable that it actually offers anything to them in the way of clarity or epiphany or we as audience members for that matter.

Towards the end of the movie Barbora's boyfriend attempts to have a couple conversations with her about her behavior, her relationship with Karl-Bertil, we see them in couples therapy and he asks some remarkably pointed but also empathetic questions and she has no real answers. Towards the end Karl-Bertil seemingly changed, clear headed, sees Barbora again and attempts in a fumbling way to encourage her to keep going to therapy and work on herself which she struggles to accept. The end of the movie should have been it's jumping off point.

Similar to 2015's Amy The Painter And The Thief exploits it's subjects suffering, conflating pain with insight.

Available to stream on Hulu.

Don't See It.