A documentary set in Oslo which tells the story of the unusual emotional bond between a Czech painter, Barbora Kysilkova and the Norwegian man who stole two of her paintings – in this intimate and electrically charged study of an artist who decides to paint the portrait of the thief…
The two stolen works, 'Chloe & Emma' and 'Swan Song,' were both large photorealistic paintings. The thieves not only managed to walk out of the gallery with the canvasses rolled up under their arms, but had carefully untacked over 200 staples from the frames, leaving the work intact, a meticulous task that would have taken at least an hour to complete. The artist, Barbora becomes fixated with recovering her work and attends the trial of one of the thieves, in turn forming an unusual relationship with the heavily tattooed Karl-Bertil Nordland, a drug addict with a troubled history and a lengthy criminal record.
In the curious shifting dynamic between the artist and thief, Barbora minutely observes Karl-Bertil as she paints his portrait, asking him where her work is - and why he stole them. He replies, that he can't remember as he was intoxicated at the time and that he stole her paintings because they were beautiful and were her masterpieces.
The dynamic between the artist and the thief, flips throughout, as at one stage, Karl-Bertil notes, 'She sees me very well, but she forgets I can see her too.' In this study of compassion and vulnerability, where a life viewed through the cracked prism of alcohol and trauma, can be reshaped, reformed and transformed and an artist who also faces her own demons and whose artistic vision is shaped by the darker fringes of life - learns some valuable lessons and some hard truths from this unlikely friendship.
Dir: Benjamin Ree
English language, 102 mins, 2020
Cert: Club
"An astonishing portrait" The Guardian
"A profound look at the art of healing — and the healing power of art." Rolling Stone
