Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.
Finding Vivian Maier benefits enormously from its extraordinary subject — a secretive nanny who produced tens of thousands of masterful street photographs that went virtually unseen in her lifetime. The documentary's novelty is high because Maier herself is utterly singular: the mystery of her identity, motivations, and the sheer volume of hidden work makes for a genuinely one-of-a-kind portrait. The film's cinematography is serviceable, leaning heavily on Maier's own stunning images to carry the visual weight, which is both a strength and a slight cheat. The structure follows a fairly conventional investigative-biography format — interviews with former employers, archival footage, the discoverer-as-narrator — which keeps plot squarely average. Acting/interview subjects are earnest but uneven in insight. The ending is the weakest element: the film raises deep ethical questions about Maloof's ownership and commercialization of Maier's work without adequately confronting them, leaving the moral tension unresolved and the portrait of Maier herself still frustratingly opaque.