andre andreas highly recommended for person who is interested in art and psychology. this documentary is very original and almost unbelievable. it captures the life of an introverted artistic genius with OCD and mother issues. his madness played a part in his seclusive attitude. it takes a person with some kind of obsessive personality to copy artwork with precision and fool dozens of major museums and universities. This guy was no joke and he did all his amazing work while watching TV with a TV dinner. no kidding. I am an artist and I appreciated his genius. the other guy trying to bring him out as a "fake" is also insane for following a topic that not even major universities and museums wanted continue investigating. most importantly I don't believe that he is a bad person because he followed what he loved and only donated his hobby.

Larry Silverstein This documentary is both weird and remarkable at the same time, and I found myself truly fascinated from beginning to end.It focuses on the art copier, or art "forger" as some would call him, Mark Landis, who was living in Laurel, Mississippi at the time of the filming. Since Landis was a child, he's had this amazing ability to copy famous art works, with materials he purchases mainly from local businesses.He's so prolific and expert in this that he has gifted over 100 pieces of art, over a 30 year span to 46 museums in 20 U.S. states. Using the ruse that a member of his family had passed away and thus he wanted to donate from their estate these "valuable" art pieces for display in their museums. Without doing their due diligence, most of these museums gladly accepted his gifts and proudly hung them in their galleries.When he was 17-years-old Landis suffered a nervous breakdown, after his father died. Ever since, he's been diagnosed with serious mental health issues, and you see him going to a mental health clinic several times in the film. However, as long as he stays on his meds and is not a danger to himself or others, he can function in society.The former Chief Registrar at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Matthew Leininger, is also prominently featured in the documentary. He became aware of what Landis was perpetuating and even though he hasn't been with the museum for quite awhile, he remains quite obsessed to expose Landis, because he feels it's not right and is a fraud. However, the former founder of the FBI Art Crime team, Robert K. Wittman, says in the movie that he doesn't consider what Landis is doing a crime, because he's not receiving any compensation for his "gifts". By the time, Landis meets Leininger, towards the end of the film, I just found myself emotionally rooting for Landis.In summary, I found this documentary to be highly unique and felt it was presented in such a way that I was riveted throughout and wondering how it would all turn out.

chris-233-201699 For film that mainly focuses on documenting an odd, old man with very strange behavior, it's very well put together and is fascinating to watch.As for the critique on here about not exploring the "Why?" surround his behavior, I think the film let's you answer that yourself. It presents all the information in a neutral way and doesn't form an opinion or spoon feed the viewer. Perhaps there is are no answers to - Does he know what he's doing? Is he a bad person? Is he malicious or does he think he's helping in some way? It's a tribute to the film that you aren't left with answers.You'll be talking about this film long afterwards.

comicman117 Art and Craft is one of the most fascinating documentaries about art that I have ever seen. It's well made, well put together, and delivers a very satisfying experience overall. In fact, this film fascinated me more than some live action movies have.Art and Craft is a documentary that follows a few days in the life of famous art forger, Mark. A Landis. Mr. Landis is a savant who has spent 30 years deceiving museums with his drawings by making them believe that they actually have art by a famous artist, when, in fact it's just him. Landis has the amazing ability to copy a painting almost exactly like the original artist, although Landis is not a very good artist, rarely paints original art of his own, and prefers instead to cheat and copy. This film explores Landis as we see him go through his childhood, learn how he became obsessed with art, how his fraud was eventually exposed, and also see him prepare for an exhibit based upon his "fake" work.This documentary was a very pleasant surprise. After weeks of films that were okay, but lackluster, Art and Craft's high quality was a breath of fresh air. This documentary doesn't portray Landis as a criminal or villain, or glorify him as some sort of hero. Instead, it just portrays him as a real human being who is a curiously strange person. In total, Landis has given 47 forged paintings to 46 art museums around America. In the film, we see interviews with Landis himself where he explains why he became a forger, what his life is like, and his understanding of his mental problems. We also see interviews with people who have met Landis, or people who worked at various art museums that Landis has tried to give forged paintings to, and how they may or may not see him as a villain. This documentary method is quite effective and allows us to see perspective from both sides.Some of the directing choices in this film were interesting as well. Filmmakers Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman really show they know how to use a camera. Sequences such as the one where we see Landis's photo gallery and his forged art really help to emphasize him as a person. While I quite liked how the regular scenes kept being intercut with movie clips from films like Casablanca and Charlie Chan, as Landis is shown to be a bit of a classic film fan, having grown up watching a lot of television and movies.Art and Craft is a wonderfully made documentary about one of the most fascinating characters of real life art. I've watched plenty of great documentaries in the past, but this one reminds me of why I find filmmaking to be interesting in the first place. I definitely recommended this film.