THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF TRIAL

Peter Debruge wrote for Variety magazine that its direction and editing 'don’t give us all the information we might need to form a clear understanding of their subjects’ actions, yet their approach is not only more artistic but somehow more representative of real life', also noting its 'time-bending nonlinear structure and various sleight-of-hand techniques to deliver information when it’s most effective.' In his review, Nick Schager from The Daily Beast describes the story as 'a true-crime tale reconfigured into a unique relationship saga, replete with twists, turns, heartbreak, failure and redemption that’s as surprising as it is well-earned.' He also praised the film's ending as 'unbelievably unexpected, poignant, and altogether perfect.' Ĭath Clarke from The Guardian awarded the film 4 stars out of 5, describing it as 'astonishing, emotionally electric' and writing, 'What an engrossing film – and the gender reversal of a male muse inspiring a female painter has got to be one small step for art-world equality,' while Adrian Horton called the film a 'remarkable documentary' that 'plays more like a twisting narrative film than real-life portrait.' The site's critical consensus reads, ' The Painter and the Thief uses the unlikely bond between a criminal and his victim as the canvas for a compelling portrait of compassion and forgiveness.' On Metacritic, the film is currently assigned a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 33 critic reviews, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'. It holds a 'fresh' 96% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 110 critic reviews, with an average of 8.1/10. The Painter and the Thief received positive reviews from film critics, mainly for its direction, story, structure and emotional weight. The only way to do that was to see the world from his perspective.' Critical reception Ree chose to present the film in an unconventional structure as “We wanted to portray Karl-Bertil as a complex, charismatic, intelligent guy. Kysilkova spoke English in the film as she didn't understand Norwegian. The film also uses the actual CCTV footage of the robbery, which was the main evidence in the trial.

THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF TRIAL

The courtroom recordings are the actual recording of the first meeting of Nordland and Kysilkova, where the latter brought with her an audio recorder to get the trial translated afterwards. She was also at the exhibition and participated in the trial. She took photographs and filmed the making of the two paintings that later would be stolen. The archival footage in the film is mainly filmed by a friend of Kysilkova, who already began filming her back in 2014. Eventually, they decided to make it a feature after seeing Nordland's first reaction to his portrait. The film started as a short documentary with the filmmakers not knowing what would happen or where the story would go. Ree began filming both of them together the fourth time they met. He contacted the painter Barbora Kysilkova and began filming her first, and it took some time to convince Karl-Bertil Nordland to participate. The idea for the film came when Ree read about the robbery in various Norwegian newspapers.

In an interview with The Guardian, director Benjamin Ree said that he aimed to explore the questions 'What do humans do in order to be seen and appreciated” and 'What it takes of us to help and see others.” It was released in the United States on May 22, 2020.

Shortly after, Neon acquired distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling. The film follows Barbora Kysilkova, an artist, forming a friendship with Karl-Bertil Nordland, a man who stole her artwork.

The painter and the thief