My Kid Could Paint That

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My Kid Could Paint That

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My Kid Could Paint That

Amir Bar-Lev, Anthony Brunelli, Elizabeth Cohen, Laura Olmstead, Michael Kimmelman

A four-year-old girl, whose paintings are compared to Kandinsky, Pollock and even Picasso, has sold $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. Is she a genius of abstract expressionism, a tiny charlatan or ...( read more  read more... )an exploited child whose parents have sold her out for the glare of the media and the lure of the almighty dollar?

Id: 10888509

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My Kid Could Paint That Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Amir Bar-Lev strikes gold with this documentary. A very capable film maker gets his break when a twist in the story he is covering reveals a compelling mystery. This is a doc about so much more than a little girls paintings and its text book perfect film making!
  • LitelBluHli
    August 10, 2009
    LitelBluHli
    The parents tried to PROVE that they kid does its own drawnings...and even set up cameras, but you can see them showing her to paint here, paint there...I think this is a fraud. I also think abstract art is bs! Just watch and judge it yourself.
  • Stinger839
    November 28, 2008
    Stinger839
    This is an interesting documentary which raises some larger issues about the art world (second doc in a row I've watched about "art world" following Who the $##% is Jackson Pollock?). The director can be accused of not being direct enough in his final confrontation of the parents...( read more).

    I find an interesting conclusion made from this film: if a kid is having fun painting while interacting with a parent, what bearing does or should any input have that the parent may give the kid? If you suggest what the kid should do without taking the brush out of their hand, does that mean it's no longer the child's work? What about the adult artist who takes in criticism from other artists while still working on a piece? Are all these people also entitled to authorship or a signature? I just think this film does not make specific what PART of the parents and Marla'a behavior makes the art "not hers". I *think* it's the fact that the director suspects that the Dad Mark may do physical touch-ups to the paintings with his own brush after hsi daughter finishes, but this point isn't made clear.

    This film also proves that art sales are all about marketing and media attention, especially for modern art, just as the gallery owner and seller for Marla's art will attest/protest.

    This is a nice "debunking of the prodigy" film, and it works that angle on many levels, none of which I think the child herself will find to be insulting in future reflection.

    Regardless of the movie's ambiguities, in five to ten years, any questions left in the air about Marla's talent will be solved by what she will do in her future art career.
  • gor41
    August 1, 2008
    gor41
    Interesting topic, let down by an uneven documentary.
  • kiriyamakazou
    July 30, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    What could have been a mature and slightly satirical look into the world of modern art suddenly plunges into a deep dark mystery. The film casts so much doubt over who creates the paintings it seems obvious Marla did not do them herself. Even the families own evidence shows her c...( read more)reating a less affective piece. However there is a real family at the heart of this film, especially the mother who seems painfully honest. If it is lies then it is a shame for the young protagonist, who seems to just wanna have fun, even when showing up her father on screen. Amir Bar-Lev puts too much of himself into the film for a truly objective stance, however he is honest enough to admit he is emotionally invested in the film as well as keeping a line about how documentary film makers can create their own truth. Fascinating, bewildering and something that in ten years will hopefully have a follow-up.
  • dukeakasmudge
    October 30, 2009
    dukeakasmudge
    OK documentary.Makes you wanna buy your kids Some paint,An easel,Some brushes & whatever & see what they come up with & try & sell it to some rich people
  • TioBradski
    September 18, 2009
    TioBradski
    What threatens to be a gratingly cute fluff piece about an artsy tyke turns out to be a fascinatingly self-reflexive commentary on authorship, media manipulation of public opinion, and the absurdity of treating childishly simple modern art as commerce.
  • Paris2Australia
    May 8, 2009
    Paris2Australia
    interesting but I don't believe that the girl actually painted all of those. someone probably tampered them
  • superclerk25
    April 5, 2009
    superclerk25
    Really good. There is a shift half way though the movie as the scandal breaks and the film maker needs to shift focus to what might be going on underneath it all.
    As I watch more and more docs I have noticed that there are not many that can tell the story objectively. This one ...( read more)is the same as the director puts his struggle to try and stay objective into the film. Does he continue with the original premise of documenting a child painter or does he follow the path before him that could taint the story as a ruse?
    A well done film that lets you decide for yourself in the end with the facts laid out before you.
  • bookokie
    February 12, 2009
    bookokie
    I'm still not sure of my opinion about who actually painted Marla's paintings.
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