‘The Painter and The Thief’
The first moments of this documentary show us a painter completing her artwork in time-lapse. The same artwork is then shown in the window of a gallery. It’s an accomplished piece and she must be an accomplished artist. Then, we see CCTV footage of two men breaking into the gallery and stealing that artwork. A news report announces that only a professional with great skill would have been able to remove the two hundred nails that held the canvas in place. The man must be an accomplished thief.
The footage is enough for the police to catch the thieves and bring them to trial. Later, the painter has invited the thief to her apartment! He is lying on the couch smoking as she begins a portrait of him.
As they talk, each allows the other to see them in ways that take us, far beyond our first impressions. The painter, Barbora, and the thief, Bertil, are real people. Their moral inventories are painfully complex: both are afraid, both are addicted to their coping mechanisms, both long for redemption that will change the direction of their lives.
As a result of seeing and being seen, both characters are given a chance to see themselves differently. In Bertil’s first encounter with Barbora’s portrait of him: he is broken and the tears flow. Barbora had refused to depict Bertil as a thief, and he sees himself through her eyes as a person full of dignity.
A kind of redemption dawns, though it is slow and painful. Bertil will have to overcome a stint in prison. Barbora has to confront herself in therapy sessions. But eventually there will be healing for the mind and body, freedom from addiction, meaningful work to do, and relationships that promise a future. This is not some abstract salvation. This is tangible redemption.
Ultimately this film left me hopeful. Hope that, if I take time to see people as they truly are, I might judge them differently, whether they’re a painter, or a thief. It made me hope that redemption is both real and possible. To get there, I might need to learn to see better. The Painter and the Thief showed me something of how to do that.
Tim, Feb 2021
*image and trailer posted for non commercial purposes under ‘fair use’ of copyright material in recommendation of the film
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We human beings are amazing creatures. That’s what your intro to this stirs in me. Amazing both for how spectacularly we can fail one another and for how, mysteriously, we can sometimes return incredible good for bad. I look forward to talking about this film with friends. Thanks for your thoughtful introduction, Tim!
Yes, a really great movie! I saw that it is on the documentary short list for an Oscar. This story ofa hurting, lost soul, realizing that someone is trying to find him is a redemption story that is vividly staying in my mind.
We watched this film after reading your description. It is tantalizing and challenging to think that maybe nobody is beyond “reach” or hope. However what is needed is somebody committed enough to pursue in love There are no guarantees, however surely without people in one’s life who really care, hope of change dims.