December 22, 2014 -- This is a fascinating documentary film about the effort to find out about a secretive woman who didn't want people to know who she really was when she was alive. Her past is discovered through exhaustive detective work by filmmaker John Maloof after he discovered this woman, Vivian Maier, was a great photographer, but completely unknown.

Maloof, a longtime devotee of auctions and estate sales, won a bid for a box at auction that once belonged to Vivian Maier (1926-2009) about whom he knew nothing. Inside, he discovered a huge collection of photographic negatives, which wasn't exactly what he was looking for. It wasn't until later, when he decided to scan some of the negatives and put them online, did he discover the treasure trove of stunning street photography he had stumbled upon.

Maloof quickly bought up the remaining boxes from the auction and later found even more, over 100,000 pictures in all. He then set out to find who this incredibly talented and prolific photographer was. He Googled the name Vivian Maier and found nothing (well, there's something now, but not then). He used clues from the boxes to track down a storage locker that was about to be emptied, and found more clues there, and lots more film in a Chicago storage locker, including many rolls of undeveloped film.

The quality of Maier's work is amazing, various experts are quoted in the film comparing Maier's body of work with that of other, much more famous and renowned street photographers. Her photos show a sense of timing, framing, humanity and sometimes playfulness that tell us a lot about the woman, but there is more.

Maloof interviews many people who knew Vivian Maier, who worked for many years as a nanny. The people she worked for and the children she cared for tell stories of a complicated, secretive and talented woman who had a dark side, and who suffered from mental illness. She was a hoarder, fired from at least one job for hoarding tons of old newspapers and other items. One employer said the weight of Maier's hoard broke the springs on his car. One of Maier's former employers was well-known TV host, Phil Donahue.

In addition to photos, Vivian Maier also used a movie camera. Some of the movies have both color and sound, and some are included in this documentary film. Among the things that Vivian did was to interview people about their opinions on current events, much like a TV news reporter might. One of these sessions, shot in a market, had Vivian asking people about their thoughts on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

Even though she was a nanny and housekeeper, she evidently made enough money to travel around the world. Maloof visits a small town in the French alps where Maier visited. Maier had tried to sell some of her photos there and seemed to have some ties to the place. People there remember her, and her photos.

Maier's past was difficult to track down because she was secretive about her past, even about her identity. People who knew her thought she was from France (she was born in New York). She used an affected French accent. She also used aliases and often did not reveal her true name. Maloof had trouble finding other members of her family. There were few left, and they were hard to find, too.

Some of the more disturbing stories about Maier came from one woman who was once under Maier's care. She said she was beaten and force-fed by Maier, who sometimes lost her temper with children. Maloof interviewed people where she lived near the end of her life, and she was described as a very eccentric person.

Some speculated that a past trauma had left her fearful of all men. Maier was evidently well-liked by some of the many children she took care of during her time as a nanny, however. Some of the boys she had once cared for long ago, now grown men, got her an apartment and paid for her rent near the end of her life.

This is a fascinating work of journalism by Maloof, who went to great lengths to bring us this story. Both the story of Vivian Maier and the images she created are fascinating. This film rates an A.

Many of Vivian Maier's photos can be seen at Google image search.

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Copyright © 2014 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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