Gene Siskel — Film Noir Blonde

‘Life Itself’ Roger Ebert doc offers insight, candor, inspiration

“Billy Wilder doesn’t go for the obvious arc. He isn’t interested in the same things the characters are interested in. He wants to know what happens to them after they do what they think is so important. He doesn’t want truth but consequences. Few other directors have made so many films that were so taut, savvy, cynical, and, in many ways and tones, funny. …

’Double Indemnity’ was his third film as a director. That early in his career, he was cocky enough to begin a thriller with the lines ‘I killed him for money – and for a woman. I didn’t get the money. And I didn’t get the woman.’ And end it with the hero saying ‘I love you too’ to Edward G. Robinson.”

So writes Roger Ebert (1942-2013), the Pulitzer-prize-winning film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, in his book “The Great Movies.” If you knew Ebert mainly from his hugely successful and world-famous TV show “Two Thumbs Up” (co-starring Gene Siskel), it might surprise you to know quite what a prolific writer he was. He published more than 20 books as well as many collections of reviews. (He started at the Sun-Times in 1966.)

Ebert used his staggering intelligence and covert sensitivity to get under the skin of a movie, to approach a film as both a tenacious reporter and a Spartan poet –baldly pointing out flaws, rapturously praising beauty and incisively assessing the director, cast and crew. He also championed little-known filmmakers and obscure movies, including more than a few film-noir titles.

In 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and, though it was removed, his battles with cancer would continue over the next decade. Ebert took his health problems in stride, refusing to let his mighty passion wane.

But it wasn’t just movies that he was enthusiastic about. He was passionate about politics and social justice, sports and travel, and he was deeply devoted to his wife Chaz Ebert (a trial attorney whom he met in AA) and their family. In 2011, Ebert published “Life Itself: A Memoir,” which spurred director Steve James to make a movie about Ebert’s extraordinary life journey.

The result is a film that is engaging, entertaining, fiercely honest and truly inspiring.

“Life Itself” opens Friday in theaters, on iTunes and on Demand.

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Film brings urban artist into focus after a life of obscurity

Finding Vivian Maier/2014/Ravine Pictures/83 min.

“Finding Vivian Maier,” a documentary about a mysterious photographer, is a real-life detective story that raises thorny issues about ethics and about art. The film revolves around a woman named Vivian Maier who, while working as a nanny on the North Side of Chicago in the 1950s and 60s, took more than 100,000 photos of people she encountered and places she explored, often with her charges in tow.

Perhaps oddly, she made little effort to share her work, printing relatively few of the negatives. In fact, she was reclusive and secretive; her huge stash of photos became part of her packrat’s storage nest along with stacks of newspapers (she was partial to crime stories), receipts, knick-knacks, jewelry and clothes. In 2007, a history buff named John Maloof bought a box of her negatives for about $400 at a thrift auction in Chicago, thinking it might serve a book project, then decided against including the photos.

Later Maloof rummaged through the box and became intrigued – make that obsessed – with finding out who took all the photos and why. Maier died in 2009 at 83 and her obit gave him the first meaty clue. The documentary retraces his sleuthing steps and pieces together a sketchy look at Maier’s eccentric life, interviewing a number of talking heads, including her former employers and their now-grown children.

Born in the Bronx to a French mother and Austrian father, Maier’s personal history is fraught with paradox and sadness. She reportedly feared men but was often bold in snapping pictures of strangers; she was an avid observer of human connection and emotion but had few friends; she was fondly remembered by most of the kids she cared for but was said to be on bad terms with her own family; in her later years, she may have been mentally ill. We’re presented with contradictory reports of what she was like, yet one thing is beyond dispute: she treasured her privacy.

Since being brought to light by Maloof, Maier’s work has garnered huge popular acclaim and some critical praise, though the fine-art establishment has been slower in bestowing its stamp of approval. Maloof, who co-directed this film with Charlie Siskel (Gene Siskel’s nephew), mostly comes off as an earnest cheerleader and champion of a neglected artist.

But it’s hard to overlook the fact that Maloof profits from the lifelong effort of a woman now dead who by all accounts kept her work to herself. I couldn’t help feeling at times that Maloof was providing a protest-too-much justification for his quest to illuminate the shadows of someone else’s life. As both co-director and interviewee, Maloof doesn’t have to answer any hard questions. That said, Maier’s impressive body of work deserves discovery and appreciation.

At its best, “Finding Vivian Maier,” is a first-class mystery and, through the gorgeous black and white photos, a fascinating look at long-ago urban life. At its worst, “Finding Vivian Maier,” is documentary filmmaking at its least rigorous.

“Finding Vivian Maier” opened last weekend and is currently in theaters.

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