Pretty Good

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Thank you, John Maloof, for collecting Ms. Maier's work, making it available to the public, and compiling information about her for this documentary.With regards to her work itself, I would give it a 10 out of 10. In my opinion she was a better photographer than Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Garry Winogrand, and Steve McCurry, other photographers who took portraits. Just do a Google image search with her name. Wow. The things that make her work stand out are the purity of the art, the lack of self consciousness, the art for art's sake feel that immediately takes you to the subject and the story and does not draw attention to the artist herself, the prolificacy of the body of work. It spoke immediately to my heart. I have never encountered a better photographer. The fact that she remains relatively obscure is unfair, but I have a feeling she wouldn't mind. I think she did it all for the sake of the art itself and nothing more, not money, not fame, not attention or admiration from others. This approach to the work shows itself in the result. No other way to approach the art would have generated an equivalent result.The reason I give the film 7 out of 10 stars is that I feel that the film views her from a bit of a condescending point of view because of some of the ways in which she was eccentric and self effacing, but I won't go into details lest I generate spoilers. I wish everyone who is into photography would check her out. She deserves more credit than she is getting, not that I think she would have cared, but it is the world that loses out if it doesn't pay more attention to her work.

After all the hype surrounding this film (and the Oscar nomination), I thought there might be a reason for it. But unfortunately, I didn't get it. I didn't see much that impressed me about the subject, the filmmaker (who was way too present) or the so-called "mystery" of why we really need to have a history of every aspect of Vivian's life.So what if she was a Nanny? Big deal. So what if she never had a showing during her lifetime? So do most artists who die penniless. I think there is so much emphasis on how brilliant she was, that it was difficult to see what the pictures are all about: they are simple depictions of the world as seen through one woman's eyes. So therefore, it didn't matter one bit that she was not a recognized artist during her lifetime.The constant interruption of the images by the filmmaker emoting in front of the camera is grating, and the repeated shots of him developing and printing, is annoying to say the least. 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. At least Vivian didn't proclaim how brilliant she was, and expect everyone to reward her.In all honesty, I failed to see any real innovation in terms of photography. Almost every image was almost like a direct analogy to Diane Arbus, who frankly did it better. Vivian was a good photographer, no question. But what bothers me is the ludicrous hype that has now grown up around the images -- and it all seems unwarranted. There is nothing about this documentary that suggests it should be nominated for an Oscar, and was, in my opinion, a waste of time.

An intriguing, well-constructed documentary that I highly recommended for every artist and indeed for all who appreciate a great image. Maier is only beginning to be recognized as one of America's premiere street photographers. Her compelling body of work, never seen during her lifetime, was discovered posthumously and by accident. This film attempts to piece together her mysterious story.Vivian's lens turned ordinary Chicago street scenes into iconic expressions of human dignity. The effect is powerful and moving. Her work might have been lost to the world, and is sadly again in peril because of a lawsuit concerning ownership of the copyright to her negatives. What a tragedy it will be if her photographs are again locked away from the public. PLEASE look at her work! It takes my breath away.

If there ever was a time when anyone could have their 15 minutes of fame, like Warhol claimed we would, this is it! Luckily enough, once in a while it is for the right reason, and it also lasts longer than a quarter of an hour. This is the story of a deranged woman, a nanny, a loner. A mysterious woman that no one really understood and that you will not fully understand by watching this documentary. An outstanding photographer who carried a camera around her neck wherever she went, but was probably never brave enough to share her photography with the world. Or was she just too different from the rest of us to want a piece of stardom. No one really knows. One thing is for sure though, she took some of the most breathtaking street photography shots ever! It's unfortunate that we can only pay our tributes to this woman posthumously. Still, she will remain with us forever through her work. Remember the name folks: Vivian Maier, a name you may have never heard of, but one that you will remember for a very very long time. Compulsory viewing, especially for photography lovers!