jfJortlanh (Dbscrticr
June 4, 2014
Finding Vivian Maier
of his subjects display a willingness
to reflect on (or at least to demon­
strate) what their interaction with
Maier's story says about them.
One o f her em ployers seems
alm ost to argue with M aier in the
guise of arguing with the film m ak­
ers. A nother fusses a bit about
her struggles to end M aier's time
with their fam ily. A friend ex­
p r e s s e s re g r e t fo r h a v in g
"dropped the ball" during an en­
counter with M aier late in her life,
mindful of the family concerns that
distracted her from loneliness that
she m ight have addressed. Often
you see a flicker of recognition of
things missed.
The result is a film that applies a
kind of reverence to reflecting on
this person's life which not only
honors her but, indirectly, offers
some instruction on attentiveness.
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9
are fascinating. They reveal a tall,
so m e w h a t a w k w a rd w o m an
("seven feet" says one o f her
form er charges, before correcting
herself), often w earing a long
m ensw ear coat and hat, yet also
displaying a sense of style, an
instinct for how to present her­
self. One wonders at this appar­
ent loner's persistence in captur­
ing arresting im ages that place
her in the broader world.
The film m akers don't attempt to
sum Maier up, or resolve her contra­
dictions. Instead, they attend to
her. What some critics have called
obsessive struck me as a quality of
attention that is all too missing in
the world, a sort of mindful curiosity
and genuine regard.
Importantly, M aloof and many
Maier seems a particularly com­
pelling mystery now, but in life she
was by turns odd and ordinary, a
quiet woman without money, fam­
ily, or connections. Evidently she
was damaged, and not well-adjusted
by any conventional standard. But
as the filmmakers discover, she had
traveled the world, had relatives in
the French Alps who still remember
her, and displayed wit and a crack­
ling intelligence. And a prodigious
talent.
Maier's photographs reveal an
inquisitiveness about human expe­
rience that is too often lacking in the
world. And so does this lovely and
remarkable film.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the
Oregon Court o f Appeals and the
first woman o f color to serve in that
capacity. Her movie review column
Opinionated Judge appears regu­
larly in The Portland Observer. You
can f i n d h e r m o vie b lo g at
opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.
Page 15
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