Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

You won't be disappointed!

Redundant and unnecessary.

Excellent but underrated film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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. I loved her life story and her work but documentary could have been less amateur. Maybe that guy Maloof could get a real director and writer to make documentary for him and not put himself into story. You should watch it just to see how amazing she was and to see her beautiful work but other than that documentary is poorly written and directed. Sad to see someone ruin such a good story and potentially good movie.

The purpose of a documentary film is to explore, or uncover something. To open the audience's eyes to something they've never seen and to leave them walking out while looking at the world around them in a different way. Finding Vivian Maier does this perfectly.This film is an exploration of a lonely, misunderstood soul and what art can come from that loneliness. Vivian Maier was a nanny in Chicago in the 1970s who was known for being a bit of an odd-ball. She would do various things such as collect newspapers, wear men's shirts, carry a camera around and snap various pictures as she went about her day. She died alone in 2009 and it was only until a few years later that her ingeniously astounding photographs were discovered and brought into the public eye.Now, during the first half of this movie, the main focus is on her art, and how it was kept so under wraps for years before coming to light, and the exploration of trying to fit all the pieces together (i.e. interviewing relatives from France, interviewing children she had cared for, going through census records, etc.) to figure out who she was on the outside.During the second half of the movie, the attention is drawn less to who she was on the outside and more to who she was on the inside. What caused her eccentric behavior? Why didn't she share her photographs? What prompted her to take them in the first place? This is where the film turns from a mystery of uncovering art to a study of a life completely hidden.Pardon me for dividing the movie into halves, but that's how I feel this movie is set up. This movie is bringing up the age-old question: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around to hear it, does it still make a sound?" Now, in Finding Vivian Maier, what is the tree, and what does it mean for the tree to fall? Surely falling refers to the creation of art, but what is the tree referring to? In the first half of the film, the movie is focusing on Maier's long-hidden photographs and how long it took for them to be revealed, so is the tree a metaphor for art itself? Is the movie begging the question: "Does art stop existing the moment we stop noticing it?" But as the film progresses into its second half, we start to observe Vivian herself, and how she ended up as the odd old lady who lived and an old apartment. This is where the movie gives us the same question, except in an even harder approach: "Do people stop existing the moment we stop noticing them?"The movie's themes don't stop there. It also has some very compelling subtext about legacy. During one scene near the end, we get a shot of the apartment Maier last lived in, and the camera pans down the building to the front door of it, which has a window in which we can see the cameraman's reflection. This could easily be excused as a mishap on the cameraman's part, but what struck me about this is that Vivian used to point her camera at anything that reflected, in order to take a self-portrait. Now, this is the subtle brilliance of influence and legacy that this entire movie has to offer. This movie not only captures Maier's works, which captured the world around her the way she wanted to see it, but the movie itself also captures the world the way she wanted to see it. And that's the art of biographical storytelling. 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. It opens the audience's eyes and leaves them looking at the world and the people around them a little differently. And most importantly, it does justice to its source material.

What a wonderful movie! It was funny, sad, touching, interesting. A little bit of everything rolled into one.John Maloof. Big props to you! Fascinating find, fascinating story. It's great that you took the time to bring us all such a treasure.Vivian's photographs are truly one of a kind. Looking at some of them literally brought tears to my eyes. Not of sadness, but of joy. Truly, heartwarming.If you're in the mood for a little laughter, a few tears, a bit of mystery and a look into the lives of some very interesting people, than I highly recommend this movie. Fabulous!

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. Written and directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Finding Vivan Maier tells of John Maloof's journey to discover this odd woman's life and to ensure her legacy is remembered. The documentary is sure to be a hit amongst avid photographers and lovers of photography as an art form. In that regard it is quite compelling, especially due to enigmatic nature of its subject, Vivian Maier. However, due to its limited scope it does not have an overreaching ability to captivate mass audiences that would otherwise show little interest in the material. Finding Vivian Maier is significantly aided in its successfulness by the bizarre personality of this prolific but, until now, unrecognized artist. As the documentary progresses, we follow along with John Maloof as he utilizes various means to unearth this woman's background and nature, a feat made increasingly difficult by her reclusive and private character. Of course, an artist being secretive is not unusual, but being the first to explore it still yields a fascinating and intriguing documentary. We do so through the now grown children she nannied for and a very limited circle of friends. 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. As certain individuals within the documentary state, perhaps the mystery of her is more interesting than the work itself. 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. Ultimately, it is nice that the documentary can be another vehicle to get her work out there to garner further appreciation and recognition from the industry.