My Kid Could Paint That
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Movie Reviews of My Kid Could Paint That
Movie Review: This Documentary Will Have You Thinking!
Summary: 5 Stars
This documentary is the most throught-provoking one I've ever seen, and I have seen many. Hence, I really enjoyed it and recommend it. "My Kid Could Paint That" is one of those stories, almost like a mystery, where you are left deciding on your own questions like "was this the real deal or was/is this a sham?" and "did this little girl do the paintings all my herself or did her dad embellish them?"
According to this DVD, in 2004, four-year-old Marla Olmstead of Binghamton, New York, took the art world by storm. After an article by a Binghamton reporter, the New York Times picked up on it and, before you knew it, the little kid was a big celebrity. Her pieces were being sold for big bucks with much bigger profits on the way. Then, 60 Minutes did an expose raising doubts about whether she was on her own in this artwork. She went from child star to fraud, but then climbed back. All of this - and more - is documented on film by another guy, Amir Bar-Lev, who spent thousands of hours inside the Olmstead house interviewing and photographing the family. They hoped and assumed he'd be on their side, vindicating their daughter and themselves.
For those who found this story fascinating, I cannot recommend enough that you also watch the 35-minute behind-the-scenes bonus feature on the DVD called "Back To Binghamton." It was done last year, a few years after all the controversy. If you didn't have enough opinions after watching the main feature, you will after watching this "extra." It is extremely enlightening.
Overall, this is a very disturbing story and one which invites a lot of discussion.
Movie Review: mind of a child
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't go into the movie as it has already been covered by the other commentaries. As a former artist many of my best abstract works came from my subconscious much like the abstracts of this child. Like any other artist I have had training on color mixing and styles. The great masters did not just pick up a paintbrush and start painting masterpieces. Even without art classes or tutoring one would have to experiment. Minerals used in making oil paints are all different hue. But the color hues found in living plants, animals, the sky and the ocean cannot be duplicated directly by out of the tube colors from manufacturers of oil paints. They are not minerals found in ore deposits. The colors found in flowers for instance are organic in nature -- not mineral, and cannot be duplicated easily with paints made from minerals. Paints made with organic substances degrade with time and cannot last for long so you won't find any paintings by the great masters done with organic paints.
The work of this child is original and has been done with minimal instructions by her artist father and the criticisms of the art experts are based on traditional snobbery. Even abstracts found in art exhibits were usually done as a class project in art school.
I enjoyed her works and commend her parents for allowing their child the opportunity to express herself in painting at such an early age. The mind of a child is a human beings purist form before it is corrupted by biases and prejudices of the adult world.
Movie Review: Bonus Features - Watch Them
Summary: 5 Stars
This is what good documentary film should be, like what Spurlock did in Super Size Me or Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?. Amir Bar-Lev one up's Spurlock by being much more objective with his film. This film has really fine balance between both sides, is it a fake and Dad really painted them, or is it real and Marla really painted those pictures?
Simply watching the theatrical or Sundance release of this film, was pretty satisfying, left me thinking mostly about real or fake. In fact it prompted a fair amount of discussion over the two days it took me to finish this movie.
The really big win here is in the bonus features. Altogether they are almost a second film. The revisiting of the town a few years later, some unused footage, the reaction of people in the film to watching themselves, a fantastic discussion of what is art by that wonderful New York Times art critic. These pieces all enriched the film for me. And, threw the whole question into even further doubt. Amir Bar-Lev does not try to answer the question for the viewer, but expands their knowledge further equally on both sides of the topic.
With the good documentaries nominated for 2009 Academy Awards, maybe people will be interested in a really fine documentary from a few years ago.
Movie Review: Is It "Art" If a 4-Year Old Can Do It?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fascinating documentary for anyone interested in art and the deeper questions about art and the art world. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the film and the philosophical questions it raises.
When the parents of 4-year old Marla Olmstead begin to sell her abstract paintings, the questions and the investigations begin (interestingly it is not really the painting of the art that seems to be the issue, but the selling of it). Is Marla a prodigy? Is the only difference between her artwork and that of other 4-year olds the fact that she is getting thousands of dollars for hers? What does it mean to say a 4-year old "created" a painting? Was she "coached," or "encouraged" by her father? Does that really matter? The human interest aspect of this film is enjoyable, but the deeper questions it raises about the nature of art, and the reaction of the media and individuals to art, are even more fascinating. The reflections offered by Michael Kimmelman, the New York Times chief art critic, are especially thought-provoking.
The extras included with the film are not to be missed, for they go even deeper into the philosophical questions, and add much to the basic story presented in the film itself.
Highly recommended!
Movie Review: The Parents Are Not Even Slightly Believable
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this documentary fascinating. It is something of a dispassionate look at modern art. The viewer is left to make up their own mind. In my particular case, my cynicism has dramatically increased. There is such a thing as legitimate non-representational art---but much of it is pure garbage. Marla Olmstead seems to be a victim of deceitful and manipulative parents. I don't even slightly trust them. They appear to merely employ postmodernist rhetoric to rationalize away criminal behavior. One should also question the honesty of the art curator and newspaper columnist.
The whole Marla phenomenon does not pass the smell test. Her so-called paintings are mildly interesting and entertaining. They deserve no further praise. Please do yourself a favor and see "My Kid Could Paint That." I am quite sure that you should find the experience both enjoyable and thought provoking. It might also behoove you to read Roger Kimball's The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art. He can help you to more clearly understand the madness of our present age.