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Documentary On Girl A Work Of Art

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By CHRISTY LEMIRE, The Associated Press

Published: November 13, 2007

The documentary "My Kid Could Paint That" encompasses some heady topics - purity of talent, the nature of art, truth in journalism - within a deceptively simple package.

In that regard, it's a lot like the work of Marla Olmstead, a cheerful little girl from upstate New York, whose paintings made her an international sensation when she was just 4 - that is, until questions began to arise as to the authenticity of her work.

Marla's abstract splatterings - vibrantly reminiscent of Pollock or de Kooning with titles such as "Flower" and "Mosquito Bite" - are colorful and alive in a childlike way, yet show the polish and maturity of an adult.

Her father, Mark, an amateur painter, likes the attention his daughter brings and bristles at the suggestion that he may have coached her or, worse yet, doctored the canvases. But her mother, Laura, is hesitant to give in to the media demands from the beginning, an instinct that will prove prophetic.

Director Amir Bar-Lev began his stripped-down, intimate film as a human interest story and ended up becoming a reluctant central figure, as he was the one person close enough to the family to be able to determine the facts. His participation may sound solipsistic on the surface, but it adds another unexpected, fascinating layer to this already complex tale.

As the legend goes, Mark was painting one day in 2002 when Marla, barely 2, showed an interest in what he was doing and asked to join him. He gave her a canvas and some brushes - a star was born.

A friend who owns a coffeehouse near the Olmsteads' home in Binghamton, N.Y., hung some of Marla's works on the walls. Customers asked to buy them; her first exhibition followed about a year later in August 2004.

Gallery owner Anthony Brunelli, who also clearly reveled in the spotlight, compared the potential pricelessness of Marla's paintings to that of Andy Warhol.

An article by Elizabeth Cohen of the Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton led to a New York Times story, and that would be the end of the family's peace and anonymity. (Marla also has a younger brother, Zane).

Jane Pauley, "Inside Edition" and "Good Morning America" called, as did Crayola, asking to make Marla a spokesperson. Her pieces were going for up to $15,000, buyers falling in love not just with the art, but also with the story of the young artist.

The lone voice of skepticism was that of Charlie Rose, who did a segment about Marla on "60 Minutes II" in February 2005. It featured video from a hidden surveillance camera of the girl painting in the family's basement (which the Olmsteads agreed to) with Mark audibly whispering to her in the background, urging her in certain directions.

The final product didn't look quite as sophisticated as her earlier paintings.

Overnight, young Marla was labeled a fraud, and her parents were condemned as liars who profited from their innocent child. Excerpts from some of the nastier e-mails the Olmsteads received are both amusing and disturbing.

Despite feeling burned by the strangers they had allowed into their lives, though, the family lets Bar-Lev stick around. ("I open myself up to you," Laura says. "I choose to trust you.")

But all of a sudden, his documentary has changed. About halfway through the film, instead of asking questions of others, he begins questioning himself. Even Cohen, the reporter, turns the tables and asks him on camera what he plans to do now. Driving home alone at night, he acknowledges feeling "sad" and "conflicted," but he never gets in the way.

Smartly, he also never gives the audience his final verdict on whether he thinks Marla acted alone in her creations. Maybe he doesn't know the answer; maybe he's just confident enough in himself and in us to let us debate and reach our own conclusions.

Either way, he has made a film that's sure to inspire long discussions afterward.

One thing is for certain, though. Marla kept painting long after the storm died down. With everyone fretting around her, she remained happy, beautiful, blissfully oblivious. And she always made it look effortless.

MOVIE REVIEW

My Kid Could Paint That

MOVIE BOARD RATING: PG-13 (strong language)

STARS: Marla Olmstead, Mark and Laura Olmstead, Amir Bar-Lev

DIRECTOR: Amir Bar-Lev

LOCATION: Opens Wednesday at Tampa Theatre

PLOT SUMMARY: Girl's paintings put her family in the spotlight and raise questions about their authenticity.

RUNNING TIME: 83 minutes

ON THE WEB: www.sony

classics.com/mykidcould

paintthat/

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