I was hoping for something along the lines of last year's Advanced Style or Iris or Vivian Maier, but I did not find myself engaged. In fact, my friend and I both left the movie before it was even halfway done.
My first beef with the film was that it showed a lot of stock footage. I understand that they had to do this because Peggy is no longer alive and the film focuses around lost audio interviews that have now been uncovered. So if you're going to do that then, it might be wise to maybe clean up those audio interviews so that the sound is clearer? Or better yet, supply subtitles so we know what she's saying? Otherwise, it's just stock footage of random shots of whatever with an inaudible voiceover.
My VIFF viewing partner Meaghan (who will also be doing reviews on here) was extremely disturbed by the audience's reaction to parts of the film where domestic abuse was being discussed. Was it that funny to hear about a man trying to kills his wife with a baseball bat or attempting to drown her in a lake? Neither of us were quite sure WHY the audience found this all so amusing and laughter inducing. Perhaps it was the age of the audience (an older crowd) who didn't see these things as being...DOMESTIC ABUSE? Or perhaps it was the way the film addressed the issues and presented it in such a light manner that it just comes across as comedic rather than as... DOMESTIC ABUSE.
Anyhow, in the end, we found this film to be a lot about problems of a rich white woman (even though she considered herself poor with ONLY $450,000 to her name in the 1920s)...
Not really a hit out of the park for me, but if you're a fan of Peggy Guggenheim (I had no clue who she was) then maybe this will peak your interest. Otherwise, I'd say you're better off checking out some of the other films that VIFF has to offer during the festival.
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict plays on September 30 at 6:30pm at the Vancouver Playhouse and again on October 9 at 6:15pm at SFU Woodwards.
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