LFF 2020: The Painter and The Thief (2020) Dir. Benjamin Ree

 

Hats off to DogWoof for this incredibly moving, engaging and fascinating documentary. 

Barbara is a Czech artist that's recently moved to Oslo to start a new life with her partner after leaving an abusive relationship. She isn't a well known artist, barely making ends meet, it's a complete shock when she receives the news that two men have stolen two of her paintings from a gallery. 

Barbara approaches the thief after court, asking to paint his portrait and an usual friendship blossoms between curious and kind Barbara and the thief,  the addict, the incredibly tender, and vulnerable Karl-Bertil Nordland. 

The sequence where Barbara shows his portrait is the most moving segments of this film, he breaks down in floods of tears. The longing for empathy, connection to ones self and more importantly awareness of ones self and shadows is what this film successfully captures.

This is a story of human shadows, soul connection, addiction, friendship, love and all that is in between. 

"You connected a masterpiece with me" 

Stunning film score at the end. This is film can only be described as exquisite. You can pre-order on amazon and watch it from October 30th 2020. 

LFF: Night Bus (2014) Dir. Simon Baker

We had high expectations for Night Bus for the obvious reasons - set in London on the No39 Leytonstone double decker bus. This character led drama uses multiple shared experiences between a number of people in the confined space of the night bus. Unfortunately this feature is excruciatingly painful to endure.

The characters are dull and all too familiar here - there also appears to be a chauvinistic undertone to most of these conversations, often painting Londoners as rude and one dimensional - There are a bunch of sales men on their way home from a strip club, a Muslim girl and her friend discussing in a causal, humorous manner why she wears a hijab, two black teen boys listening to their music ever so loudly, a middle class couple arguing after dinner out with another couple (also worth noting that their argument makes absolutely no sense) and a Northern young couple dressed in Tiger onesies.

There is also a middle aged man whom we learn is going through a divorce, desperate to get home and constantly on his mobile, he's interrupted by two drunk Polish men singing bizarre songs that went on far too long. Stereotypes. There is nothing original or captivating about Night Bus. Perhaps that's the point which would have been acceptable and admirable if these characters had some depth. They don't.

First time Director, Simon Baker, has certainly wooed us with his slick editing skills and repetitive shots of the bus - he used these intervals as means to 'wrap up' individual sequences with characters on the bus. Night Bus glorified the bus driver, the film almost felt like a TV advert for London Transport, encouraging youngsters and drunkards to be aware of the challenges bus drivers face.

Irritating, bizarre and arrogant. This feature lacked charm and substance.