The Painter and the Thief

Aroview: A astonishing Norwegian art documentary about the Czech painter Barbora Kysilkova, and her deepening relationship the criminal who stole two of her paintings.

What developed was an improbable friendship that offers fascinating insights into the relationship between artist and muse. The thief, who brazenly broke into an Oslo art gallery in broad daylight to steal two of her hyperrealist paintings, sits for his portrait as this beguiling relationship unfolds. A scenario that would appear utterly contrived in a fiction film is riveting here, with Kysilkova both inspired and provoked by this heavily tattooed heroin addict, whose story is naturally more than meets the eye. In English and Norwegian with English subtitles.

“A mesmerizing, and potentially transgressive, investigation into just how far the documentary form can be torn apart and put back together – and whether the audience should accept such a wild reconfiguration.” ~THE GLOBE AND MAIL