The Painter and the Thief
Darren Carver-Balsiger

Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger Patron

The Painter and the Thief 2020

★★★★½

Watched 02 Oct 2020

The Painter and the Thief is a real tearjerker. It feels like stumbling onto lives that we shouldn't. The film follows two people, an artist and a criminal. They are very different people, and are broken in different ways, on different scales. This is a film of human symbiosis, both helping each other in an emotional way, not necessarily in a material way.

If this film has convinced me of anything, it is that paintings can have real human and social value. We see the titular thief's emotional reaction to a painting when he cries. And he really cries, like loud cries, for a long time. It's never explained why he cries, but that's a deeply moving moment. This is a film of art, and how it can come from a dark place, a place of abuse and little money.

This is a film of kindness. It is about people helping each other to get better. The thief goes to Halden Prison, notoriously one of the most humane prisons on the planet. Life is dictated by opportunities. The exact same person could end up in an entirely different life due to the circumstances around them.

The Painter and the Thief is the right level of intimate. It is never intrusive, but always very close to events. The editing moves in and out over time, sometimes going backwards to show things from a different perspective. All of which allow the film to maintain a mystery right to the end. This could have been fiction, but the fact it's a documentary makes it all stronger. Then the perfect tiny twist, in the very last minute, reframes everything and it's truly beautiful.

2020 Ranked
My Top Films of the 2020s
My Top Documentary Films

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