There Are No Fakes

This is an interesting documentary film that I happened to see on tv. I wasn't previously familiar with Norval Morrisseau - though I got a feeling that I might have seen his art somewhere before.

At first I was a bit confused where is the film going and how are all these people connected to the big picture but later it started to become more clear. More than the original art itself the film focuses on crimes that some people close to the artist committed. The makers of the film have done very thorough job in interviewing a lot of different people and collected a lot of clues to put together the difficult puzzle where a lot of lies and half-truths are against each other. The ending is left a bit open but everyone can then form their own opinion.

Recommended for fans of art, and generally anyone who likes crime-solving and truth-seeking kind of films.

Not a particularly fascinating documentary. Fairly obvious who the bad actors in this story. A story of greed and simple people being taken advantage of. Art work (childlike) is forged and sold to a gullible Canadian public. Some at ridiculous prices. Oddly, not a single forensic examination of any of the art is shown or discussed.

This is a fantastic documentary that is truly worth watching. It is long, but hang in there because it takes off in a direction that is totally unexpected. Wonderful, poignant and important story-telling.

I actually went to this movie by accident, getting my dates mixed up. A seemingly small story about forgery in the art world (what else is new) but one that focuses on a renowned indigenous artist who emerged from the morass of a difficult early life to produce some of the finest art of its kind, but then fell back and was seemingly taken advantage of by several small but unscrupulous characters. A great story by itself, but the emergence half way through of another person's story made this a riveting documentary. I can't recommend this enough, and was glad I couldn't read the rep theatre schedule properly.

The authenticity of Norval Morrisseau paintings represents one of the sad chapters in the exploitation of Canadian aboriginals. The documentary exposes the methods the forgery ring employed to saturate the market. The film is balanced given the trial judge' finding that forged paintings existed. I particularly appreciated the evidence of the aboriginal witnesses in Thunder Bay.

The last word(s) will come from the Ontario Court of Appeal so the film should be revised at some point.