Finding Vivian Maier
Director: John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Talent: Vivian Maier, John Maloof, Mary Ellen Mark, Phil Donahue
Release Date: 18th July 2014
Vivian Maier (1926 – 2009) worked as a nanny while, seemingly in secret, producing one of the most significant individual bodies of work in 20th century photography. Recently discovered in a random, bulk auction by director John Maloof, her sometimes extraordinary photographs punctuate this story of a life characterised by loneliness, mystery and volatility on the margins of the Middle American domestic unit. Despite its rich subject matter, the film suffers from shoddy pacing and jarring, made-for-TV aesthetics (see also this month’s Supermensch), leaving one questioning the self-interest of first-time director Maloof. While Maier ought to be at the centre of proceedings, too often it is Maloof’s inquisitiveness, or resourcefulness, or professed urge to make Vivian posthumously famous, that occupies the spotlight. Indeed, never has it seemed more apparent that the biography, not to mention the biographer, is the death of art.
Words: Oisín Murphy-Hall
For more cinema coverage this month, check out our reviews of:
Hector and the Search for Happiness, The Rover, Pudsey The Dog: The Movie, Boyhood, The Grand Seduction, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, Grand Central & Joe
