Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

SteveJ_888 Art and Craft is an excellent documentary film. In a similar approach sometimes used by Errol Morris, the the filmmakers simply get out of the way and let the main character and other real participants tell the story. There is no expert analysis or moralizing.Mark copies artworks and then donates the forgeries to various museums, passing them off as the originals. He truly believes he is doing nothing wrong or illegal.The story is a somewhat sad one. Mark has talent, but he never has had the guidance to help him reach his potential. Mark also has good social skills. He is polite and sells his product convincingly. He has some mental health issues, but most of his treatment seems to have been medication.Mark's belief that he is doing nothing wrong is interesting. While no one seems to condone his actions, no one seems willing to deeply condemn him either. His actions aren't extremely vicious or hurtful, but there is a violation against society taking place. the violation itself is provocative, and causes people to examine the relationship between art and the viewer. That kind of discussion is often said to be one of the purposes of art.Though the story is somewhat sad, there is something redemptive as well. When Mark is given the opportunity to exhibit the forgeries he agrees to participate, and things go well.Another interesting character in the movie is Matthew, who is a museum curator duped by Mark. At first his is extremely angry at the deception. He becomes somewhat obsessed with Mark and works on his own time to locate and expose as many of Mark's donated forgeries as he can. Ultimately Matthew is able to turn the experience into something positive. Instead of being vengeful, he sees it as a learning experience. The face-to-face interaction between him and Mark is amusing rather than painful to watch.Did Mark really hurt anyone - or only their pride? Do the forgeries succeed as art on some level? When we look at a Monet or Picasso do we see the work or do we see a work by Monet or Picasso? If so, is that perception as false as Mark's forgeries?

MartinHafer I really wish the film Art and Craft had been made a few years ago before I retired from teaching. This is because in my psychology classes, I occasionally showed my students films about strange people and we'd discuss the possible diagnoses that you could give to the folks portrayed in the film. Well, in the case of Art and Craft, this really would have opened up some wonderful discussions, as the man featured in this documentary, Mark Landis is one odd character...and that's putting is mildly!So what is it about Mark that makes him unusual you may ask. Well, he's a world-class forger and has made hundreds of copies of great works of art. This in of itself is not so unusual. Hold on to your hats. Mark then DONATES these paintings to various art galleries across the United States! He receives no money for this and his only reward is knowing that he's tricked the museums into hanging his fakes. In some cases, he's even gone to extremes to put over these fakes--such as posing as a priest or a variety of other people! At this point you are probably wondering what makes him tick--and that is what makes the film so interesting. Landis is obviously mentally ill--but not necessarily in a traditional sense. Does he have a personality disorder? Well, a true antisocial personality would do this for money and personal gain--but where is the gain? He's been diagnosed as schizophrenic and I'll admit that he's odd and a tad delusional-- but can such a person normally be able to convince so many people that he's a great philanthropist?! He also reminds me quite a bit of someone with an Autism Spectrum disorder, as his social skills are incredibly poor in some ways and he has a savant-like ability to copy paintings almost exactly. Yet, interestingly, he cannot make anything really original. His one 'original' picture that he talks about is just a drawing of a photograph. So, he's an amazing artist with no apparent ability to abstract or create something on his own. But there is still far more to the story--including another individual who sure shows a lot of Obsessive-Compulsive traits--so much so that he appears to have given up his job in order to follow Landis and identify his fakes! All in all , this is one very strange documentary...but also one that you cannot stop watching because it IS so strange and compelling. Additionally, some of the special features on the DVD (which came out this week) are pretty interesting. So why an A- and not a higher score? Because although the film is interesting, it does leave a lot unsaid and unexplained- -such as how Landis can afford his supplies and to travel the country posing as a philanthropist even though he has no job. Odd but definitely worth your time.

boblipton So, this guy goes to this museum and says that he wishes to donate a painting by a well-regarded, if minor artist in memory of a dead loved one. Later on, it turns out he has done this hundreds of times over the decades and it wasn't noticed for twenty or thirty years. He donates the works. He doesn't even take a tax deduction. The forgeries are fairly crude, often photocopies with some extra paint poured over them.Is it a practical joke? Performance art? An indictment of the so-called experts at museums? Whatever it is, that's what Mark A. Landis has been doing for several decades and when two museum guys realized this, they were angry. Unfortunately, they can't do a thing about it, because Mr. Landis did nothing illegal. They do call him various forms of crazy.I do that too when someone pulls some hoax off on me. It serves me right to fall for it.That's what this documentary is about and it never answers the question "why?" Probably because the answer would embarrass people.

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.