TIM’S VERMEER – Rated PG-13
When I saw the name of the film I was to see at an advanced screening last week – its name did not intrigue me. Tim’s Vermeer – What is a Vermeer? I did not study in depth the History of Art in High School or College, I was not familiar with the work Johannes Vermeer, the 16th Century Painter, known for his exquisite paintings that seemed to be enhanced by Vermeer’s way of bringing LIGHT onto the canvas. I was intrigued however, by seeing a documentary Directed by Teller, and narrated by Penn Jillette…….yes, magicians extraordinaire – Penn & Teller.
As I began to watch the film, which is actually about the life of Penn Jillette’s good friend Tim Jenison, you come to find that this film is not only about Tim, but Tim’s obsession with trying to find out how Vermeer painted like he did. Little is known of this 16th century painter or how he seemed to be able to paint on a flat canvas and make the picture become a three dimensional masterpiece.
For year’s Tim studied Vermeer’s paintings and tried, without much success for quite a long time, to produce a style, a concept, a device that could help him in recreating a VERMEER. As most obsessions seem to become all we think about day and night, Tim came to produce a type of mirror image contraption – that could focus an image from in front of him and transpose it onto his canvas.
Luckily for Tim, he is also an engineer and designer, so he began to rework his mirror image conductor until he had it perfected to the point where he could actually look into the mirror and begin to paint. As he painted, he realized he could get the same type images and shading to appear on his canvas, just like the works of Johannes Vermeer.
Will Tim be able to perfect his device in order to create a masterpiece just like one of Vermeer’s? Will his obsession bring him to reach his full potential as a designer, engineer and painter? Or will his overwhelming curiosity with VERMEER, and his work, bring the rest of his life, and his family’s lives, to a screeching halt?
I give TIM’S VERMEER a C – It was interesting learning about Tim, his life, and his friendship with Penn. It was also interesting learning about Dutch Painter Johannes Vermeer and how extremely beautiful and interesting his paintings are. But as documentary’s go, the subject matter, along with the complete obsession that this man has – which totally consumes every waking moment of his life, it seems – becomes too daunting to even enjoy. By the end of the film, I was just hoping and praying that he could complete the task at hand, and finish his VERMEER, so that I could go home, and try not to focus so immensely on anything that is presently going on in my own life……..
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 