This film is the story of Marla, a 4-year old who was rose to fame in the art world for her abstract art. The paintings are discovered by a new gallery-owner, and he showcases Marla’s work. Her paintings start selling for thousands of dollars.
Marla seems like a normal child; her mother insists that’s exactly what she is. 60 Minutes agreed when they did their piece on her. But if Marla is just like any other child, then it calls into question what abstract art really is. Is something that is created by a child, who may or may not be talented, that doesn’t have cohesive thought behind it, worth that much money?
The 60 Minutes segment also drew another conclusion – that Marla’s paintings could not possibly be just hers. It implied that her father was directing her, and might even be putting finishing touches on her paintings. There were several attempts to prove them wrong – to show Marla’s efforts on video. But none of them were particularly convincing.
The film maker was very frank that every documentary is going to have some amount of the bias of the film maker. He did not believe that Marla was the sole creator of all the paintings, and his bias showed. However, for all his bias, he did leave it fairly open to interpretation. For me, though, that the conclusions he led us to make are pretty clear. His portrayal of the family was that a) mom truly believed in both the creativity and the normalcy of her child, b) dad was not genuine, c) mom & dad worked opposite shifts. To me, it looked like dad probably did help Marla when mom wasn’t around. But, i don’t think anyone on the outside will ever know for sure.
Most of Marla’s collectors have been satisfied, however, and her paintings continue to sell well.
An interesting story. Definitely recommended.