Finding Vivian Maier

Plot synopsis:
The film opens up cutting between footage of a handful of people, each in their home, and each pensively waiting to be interviewed. The brief snippets shown clarify that each will be speaking about their recollections of the same woman, as a part of finding insight into the mystery.
Switch to the filmmaker,John Maloof explaining how a trip to a local auction house, in search for old pictures to use for a book history of his neighborhood resulted in him bidding, and winning a box full of old negatives. John, goes through the massive quantity of negatives, describes how impressed he was by the quality of the images, quickly determined they were not relevant to his project and just put them away. That could have very likely had been the end of the story, if the power of the images had not pushed him to fall in love with photography. John confides that his photo hobby quickly motivated him to set up a darkroom and devote large amounts of time shooting. As he learned more about photography, he recognized that those negatives he had bought, then stored, were the work of a real master. In an attempt to confirm his suspicion, he selected about 100 images and put them online with the hope that the feedback would confirm his judgement as to the strength of the images. He got his confirmation!Mr. Maloof had the artistic vision and business savvy to go back to that auction house, track-down others that had bought Vivian's negatives that day and buy them all, returning the collection to whole. The amount of images was truly astounding, and total over 100,000, and unlike today's digital world, she was shooting primarily with a Rolleiflex Camera, a roll of 120 film holds 12 images.In addition to the film, John found receipts, notes and just enough information to attempt to find out who was this prolific mystery woman. Interestingly, it was not that difficult to discover who she was and people that knew her, the secret was that she had been a masterful artist. Everyone knew her as the slightly odd, but rather nice nanny.- Lane J. Lubell of Cinemashadow.com

Tags: violence, home movie

Review:
This element of mystery is what makes John Maloof and Charlie Siskel's documentary Finding Vivian Maier so intriguing, yet also leaves us wanting to know more.
The subject of the film is an unknown photographer whose art has been compared to the masters, though she never exhibited her work and little is known about her life.The photos, discovered by Maloof, display a segment of society invisible to many in the 1950s - the old, the poor, the black, the young, and the disenfranchised, a kaleidoscope of stunning images that poignantly capture the faces of humanity with humor and rare sensitivity.
The story begins with John Maloof reporting how he purchased a box of negatives at an auction in Chicago in 2007 for a book he was working on.
After stashing the box away for two years, Maloof decided to scan some images and post them on Flickr.Writing on the website that he had about 30,000 negatives of Maier's work that cover a period ranging from the 1950s to the 1970s, he requested direction, asking whether the photos are worthy of an exhibition or a book.
Still digging for more information, the second half of the film is devoted to discoveries the director made about Maier and they are not all pretty.What we do know is that Maier was born in 1926 and spent some time in France before working as a nanny for upper middle class families in the Chicago suburbs (including a brief time with Phil Donahue).
Though this has resulted in her work now being displayed in galleries all over the world, the question of why her photographs have not been accepted by the Museum of Modern Art is left unexplored.The bigger mystery - why she chose to withhold the photos from the world, of course, is still unknown and the film sheds very little light on this puzzle.
Like last year's Searching for Sugar Man, a documentary about Sixto Rodriguez, another unknown but very talented artist, Finding Vivian Maier is a fascinating ride.
The documentary "Finding Vivian Maier," written and directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, tells the fascinating tale of a woman who lived and died in obscurity - then, through a serendipitous fluke of fate and an undiscovered talent for photography, became well known and celebrated long after her death.
The negatives, it turned out, belonged to a woman named Vivian Maier, born in 1926, who had spent most of her adult life taking pictures of the world around her - more than 150,000 of them to be exact.
Vivian never shared her work with the people in her life, even though the images were of a quality to rival some of the world's greatest and most famous photographers.
Intrigued by what he had unearthed - the treasure trove included many 8 MM films as well - Maloof decided to re-create the life of this talented woman by seeking out those who knew her and using their knowledge of her to help piece it all together.
It seems that Vivian spent her life as a nanny to the well-off families of Chicago; in fact, she was hired by no less a figure than Phil Donahue to look after his four children for a short time.Through the movie, there emerges a portrait of an eccentric, intensely private woman, who never married and was seemingly devoid of family, who kept her personal background a secret, frequently used pseudonyms, affected a phony French accent (despite the fact that she was a native New Yorker), voiced strong opinions on politics and society, and traveled the world with only a camera for a companion, continually documenting, through both stills and film, the world as she and few others saw it.One of the interviewees describes Vivian's work as reflecting "the bizarreness of life, the incongruencies of life, and the unappealing- ness of human beings." Yet, what comes through most vividly in her work is its humanity, her ability to capture the essence of people from all ages and walks of life in a single moment in time.However, if you thought "Finding Vivian Maier" would turn out to be one of those unalloyed "feel good" movie experiences, you'd be sadly mistaken.
and becoming increasingly reliant on the kindness of strangers before death finally came for her in 2009.Yet, now her work adorns the walls of many an art gallery the world over, as ever-increasing legions of admirers come to appreciate her talent.For all its speculation, the movie demonstrates at least a certain amount of self-awareness by admitting that it may be a trifle unfair to judge a person and the life she led based entirely on how others saw and felt about her, without the person being given a chance to clarify or defend herself.
Vivian Maier's personal and photographic story, along with John Maloof's story relative to purchasing the photos and fleshing out information on Ms Maier are the subject of the movie and the two interwoven stories are most interesting.Interviews of those that knew her or her work are in the movie, many of her photos are shown, as are shows of her photos.I, like the previous reviewer, would like to see the movie again.
The story of an eccentric, possible mentally ill mystery woman and her prolific photographic work.
The film starts with those who knew her, openly expressing their amazement to her unknown and mysterious life as a street photographer, filled with the images she kept a secret from everyone.
And, it's just debuted on Netflix in case you'd like to give it a try, as it's amazingly original and worth your time.When the documentary begins, a young and rather unusual young man, John Maloof, talks to the camera to explain how he came to know Vivian Maier.
Overall, it's less like a biography and more like a forensic case where some people are trying to re- create a dead person by interviewing all those who knew her during her odd life as well as using Maier's own photographs, film footage and audio tapes.
And, what's really unusual is that most of the people she knew seemed to have no idea that she was a great artist...as she took this secret to her grave.Fascinating....this is probably the word that best describes this film.
This film is recommended.Filmmaker John Maloof stumbles upon a trove of unwanted photos at an auction by a relatively unknown artist named Vivian Maier and this documentary, co-directed with Charlie Siskel, wants to make her well known and just may do so.
His Antique Roadshow story becomes the basis for his documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, and it's almost too obvious that this filmmaker wants to create a legend and myth in this well done infomercial for this talented woman.
Through interviews and archival footage of her photographic work, we learn little about this eccentric artist's life, she remain an enigma.
￼Finding Vivian Maier tries to uncover this artist's personal life, but never achieves that goal, due to conflicting stories by interviewees and the lack of physical evidence left by Maier herself.
None of her pictures were ever published during her lifetime, but after death, street photographer Vivian Maier attained fame when undeveloped negatives from her deceased estate were published online.
This documentary from first-time directors John Maloof and Charlie Siskel follows their attempts to probe into Maier's background and discover why she took so many photographs, yet never shared them with anyone.
Some have commented that the documentary spends far too much time towards the end on the question of just how unbalanced Maier is (especially considering that nobody still knows for sure); then again, it is always understandable why Maloof and Siskel are so set on pursuing her past.
First, I would suggest everyone of you to go online and watch "Vivian Maier: Who Took Nanny's Pictures?" produced by the BBC, and please come back to read the rest of this review.The BBC documentary being released a few months before John Maloof's film, I was interested to learn what Maloof had more to show or tell about Vivian Maier, and risk a unflattering comparison with professional journalists.Technically, I have to say that "Finding Vivian Maier" is not impressive.A documentary about a photographer would be asking for voice-over narration, to give full screen-time to the photos, videos and belongings of Vivian Maier.
All of it went way too far in making him seem like he was some kind of a savior who gave the world a gift -- and ignores the fact that Vivian was the kind of artist who only wanted to practice her art without all the hoopla and celebrity that follows most of the pretentious egocentric photographers like Annie Leibowitz or Cindy Sherman -- where the personality of the photographer becomes more important than the images themselves.
Well - That, my friends, is probably something which we'll never, ever know for sure.But, with that said - I certainly must give John Maloof (this documentary's co-writer/co-director) a helluva lot of credit for his thoughtful and extensive investigation into the identity of this very private, yet incredibly prolific, street-photographer who, in her lifetime, took an estimated 150,000 photos (most of which were never developed).It was only by a stroke of sheer luck that Maloof came across this surprise discovery of negatives amongst Vivian's possessions, which he had purchased at an auction (of her abandoned personal property) in 2007.Vivian (who worked as a nanny for various families for nearly 40 years) apparently never showed her photographic work to anybody.
But thanks to Maloof's uncovering of Vivian's personal possessions, it is now realized that her photographic-eye was truly exceptional.For the most part, this documentary was quite an extraordinary experience for this viewer.
She seems not to have had any creative training or worked professionally as a photographer, had no book published, no exhibitions, no freelance commissions yet after her death a whole treasure trove of her wonderful creative work is slowly being revealed.I enjoyed this documentary made by John Maloof (who seems to have acquired the largest amount of her work) and Charlie Siskel and their credible attempt to piece the life of Maier together.
There are plenty of people talking here, the children, now adults, who she looked after, photographers Joel Meyerowitz and Mary Ellen Mark, neighbors who knew her when she was old but they are all left to tell their stories straight to the camera.Many of her photos are shown in the film and of course they are wonderful to look at but her work really can't be considered strong enough to change any notions of the meaning of photography.
Screenwriters, producers and directors John Maloof and Charlie Siskel's documentary feature which they co-wrote and produced, is inspired by real events in the life of a 20th and 21st century American street photographer.
It tells the story about a photographer who in the late 2000s in America, found some property which belonged to a nanny.Distinctly and engagingly directed by filmmakers John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, this finely paced documentary which is narrated by John Maloof and interchangeably from multiple viewpoints, draws a gripping and multifaceted portrayal of secretive activities which began in early 20th century France.
While notable for its versatile milieu depictions and reverent cinematography by cinematographer John Maloof, this narrative-driven story about the eccentricities, family relations, interpersonal relations, identities and views on humanity and men of the person in question where interviews with friends, family members, photographers and acquaintances communicates objective stories about someone who got significantly near whilst keeping a pivotal distance, depicts an extraordinary and unsettlingly in-depth study of character and contains a timely instrumental score.
This somewhat historic, humorous and atmospheric found photography documentary which is set mostly in America and France in the 21st century, where an, according to this representation, reclusive and autonomous person is given to the limelight and where the unpublished work of a daughter and sister who managed to remain a mystery for as long as she could is presented, is impelled and reinforced by its fragmented narrative structure, substantial and cinematically appropriate character development, rhythmic continuity, psychological undertones, noteworthy examination of its central theme and the bilateral photographs.
This is story about unknown photographer Vivian Maier who is discovered after her death which you probably already know since you're reading the reviews.
Finding Vivian Maier shoulders the task of condensing a life time of over 100,000 photographs in to an hour and a half.
"Finding Vivian Maier" was certainly one of the more interesting documentaries that I've seen in quite a while.Eccentric, secretive, enigmatic - Vivian Maier (who, besides being nanny) was also an amateur street-photographer with an exceptionally acute "photographic-eye".To me, the most surprising thing about Vivian was that throughout her lifetime she never once showed her photographic work to anyone (and yet her output was phenomenal).
This is a fascinating documentary about Vivian Maier , an odd woman , but a genius with a camera.
John Maloof , the director of this film started to discover , that these pictures where extraordinary and he set out to find what this woman , and her life , was all about.
Well, get to know Vivian Maier.This is a wonderful documentary about an eccentric woman.
Like me, you'll find yourself Googling Vivian Maier to find out details of her life, her work, and this story.
Vivian Maier, living incognito as a nanny, led a mysterious double life – unbeknownst to all, she was a prodigious street photographer, taking more than 100,000 pictures in her lifetime.
Finding Vivian Maier is part mystery, part documentary, part biography, and never boring.O'Toole likes the story behind the work.
I have only the highest admiration for the photographs of Vivian Maier that I have seen on this documentary..
He discovered these amazing street photographs taken by a woman named Vivian Maier and started posting them on his blog.
Through interviews of people who knew Vivian years ago, Maloof tries to understand what motivated this mysterious woman to take these brilliant photographs.
The documentary works extremely well as this mysterious character study that begins to take form through Vivian's photographs and interviews with the few people that actually had interacted with her when she worked as a nanny for a number of families in New York.
An unknown street photographer pops onto the scene posthumously,  changing the landscape of the art form, Finding Vivian Maier is that  story.
Finding Vivan Maier is a documentary about the reclusive and mysterious  woman who devoted her life to taking photography, and yet, never let  any of it be seen.
Omitted from the documentary are  interviews with those members of the art world that still fail to  acknowledge Vivian Maier as a distinguishable photographer, and it  certainly is a missed opportunity.
But this  obscured and even troubled woman left an unusual trail of breadcrumbs  in the forms of unpublished photo negatives as evidence for us, and the  producers of the film Finding Vivian Maier, to construct an  understanding of this riveting individual.
It certainly gave a more rounded view of Miss Maier than the BBc documentary in my opinion.I look forward to continue to enjoy Vivians images that may even inspire me to pick up a camera..
This film covers the fascinating discovery and commercializing of one of the un-seen masters of 20th century photography.You probably want to start with the BBC documentary about Vivian Maier before watching this one, called The Vivian Maier Mystery.
The BBC film also presents multiple viewpoints on key topics, and was not financed by the company that sells her prints.That said, the tale as told in Finding Vivian Maier is good reality TV drama, and has more of an emotional tug -- and really makes you want to go out and buy some of this artists' work..
"Vivian" introduces us to a unquestionable talent, one shaped by mysterious forces and incidents we might never really know or understand but presented in such a way that we might never forget who or what we have seen.A photographer finds an incredible amount of photos, films (developed and undeveloped), and the trigger is that the artwork is unquestionably beautiful, haunting, special, and begs the audience to inquire how and why it was made.
She is revealed to be a nanny and a caretaker.As layers are removed and more information is provided, we see a complex and mysterious individual who had the obsessive need to document what she saw, and with the help of a very good camera, an excellent eye for visual composition, and some interesting emotional baggage, we put together most of the puzzle.The documentary takes you through interviews of some of the children she took care, the impressions she made along the way.
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER (2014) **** An intriguingly bittersweet documentary in the discovery by filmmaker John Maloof of a treasure trove of amazing photography and an unknown artist-who- should've been in the unlikely form of French-born nanny-for-hire Vivian Maier, an eccentric and at times frustrating source to pin point who she truly was, after Maloof goes on a journey into unraveling the shutterbug's lifelong mystery.
If, as Maloof does, we divide the footage in two, with one half spent interviewing people who met, knew, or were nannied by the elusive Maier, and the other wallowing in what can only represent a handful of the literally thousands of photographs she left behind then the photos win hands down and more than justify the film.
The movie itself has to tell the story the way that the person would want it to be told, and Finding Vivian Maier achieves it greatly.This documentary definitely perfects the genre.
Impressed in the quality of Vivian Maier's work Maloof began posting her photos over the internet.
He learned that Vivian Maier worked as a nanny and began interviewing the kids - now adults - that she took care of.
Maloof examined these photos and was able to locate her home town and learned that Vivian Maier's mother was a photographer too.