Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Had I taken to heart what the movie reviewer in my local paper had written about this film (and his 2.5 star rating) -- I would not have gone. Fortunately, I checked out IMDb and read that someone had compared it to Jean Cocteau's avant-garde "La Belle et La Bete." Enough said. That commendation, and armed, as I was, with the knowledge that Nicole Kidman has done some exceptional films in recent years (particularly "The Hours," "The Others," and one of my all-time favourite psychological thrillers, "Dead Calm"), I was off to the local art film theatre to join the sparse (perhaps a dozen?) audience of viewers.

In short, this film has set the bar extremely high re: all other films I will see in 2007. One finds not only the influence of Cocteau in the film, but also of Kubrick, Hitchcock, and even of Maya Deren. (ie: there is a stunning image of Kidman/Arbus crawling out of the sea -- a few moments of sheer poetry -- that are reminiscent of Deren's "At Land.") (Also, perhaps a little Jane Campion with the underwater shots near the end.)

This is a decidedly painterly film, with everything from Arbus's dresses to the evocative interiors of Lionel's museum/carnival-like apartment and the film's textures worthy of commentary in both film classes and post-film chats with friends. Contrasts are integral to this film. The paint-peeled walls provide an interesting contrast with the elegant satins and aristocratic dining accoutrement (tea pot, cup), and parallel Lionel's declining health. Arbus's smooth skin vs. Lionel's fur. The staged symmetry of Arbus's husband's white-washed, commercial photography vs. the brilliant chaos in Lionel's apartment. Arbus's wealthy, "proper" parents vs. Lionel's menagerie of "freaks". Many of the shots are framed in interesting, geometrical or architectural ways, or echo camera apertures. The use of the colour blue in some scenes is breathtaking.

Great line -- (not verbatim): Allan Arbus -- "I'm a normal guy, now I have a hole in my ceiling and freaks coming through it."

I also felt the chemistry between the principal characters (a rarity), and believe the pacing greatly attributed to the overall success of the film. The framing -- with the nudist camp -- underscored the change/growth in the protagonist.

As my 20 year old daughter said upon leaving the theatre -- "This is the kind of film that really makes you want to live the life you were meant to." Here here. "Fur" gets five big, bold, blazing stars. It is, quite simply, brilliant. Please, tell your friends.

I actually admired the extreme lengths to which the film's creator went in exercising his freedom of artistic licensing in this totally fantastical and imaginative version- fictionalising the source of inspiration behind Ms Arbus's consequent journey into developing her art; to many it may suggest indulging ones-self to the extreme at the risk of inflaming the passions of her loyal fans, I can empathise with those hardcore admirers who were eagerly anticipating an homage to her life and work as the film must have been a source of immense disappointment, bearing very little resemblance to the physical or biographical realities of Ms Arbus and her life...though the title clearly alludes to the fact that this was never the intention. I really enjoyed the film, Nicole Kidman never fails to deliver and visually it was an absolute feast of colour, subtle surrealism, atmosphere and even humour albeit poignant and dark at times.

I particularly liked the harmonious balance in tempo, and rhythm as the story unravels, the subtle and sensitive balance between humour and tragedy, the exploration of the complexity of intimate relationships, the need to find ones own path or destiny however painful and incongruent that journey may be- with social expectation, preconceived values or personal responsibility.

The biographical inaccuracies seem insignificant within the greater framework and although I was hitherto unfamiliar with the specifics of Ms Arbus's life, I still felt that valid insight was gained into the perplexing struggles endured by this artist searching to become true to herself amidst the parental social/emotional pressures and expectations. I was able to recognise an unconfident and yet courageous and strong, empathetic, sensitive woman, uniquely lacking in prejudice given the era and social background from which she came. For the open-minded viewer who appreciates the complexities of life, it is a thought provoking and challenging story which does not stray unforgivably far from a kind of truth.

I would be delighted if the Arbus estate, after having seen this film, commission a film called "The True Life of Diane Arbus" with an ending in the same vein as the film portrait of Sylvia Plath.

My feeling, and it is only that, Ms Arbus was never timid in her photography of people. Nor were the people on the fringe of society organised in the way the film suggests they were.

If you like lingering shots of Ms Kidman and enjoy bubblegum for the eyes then do go and see it. If, on the other hand, and that was my motive for going to see the film, you wish to learn more about a talented photographer of worth, then your cinema ticket price might be better spent on a book about Diane Arbus.

There is not a great deal I feel I can say about this film, except that it is one of the strangest and most surreal film I have ever seen.

It was a film which made me constantly want to reach for the 'Off Button' on my remote but at the same time I felt compelled to continue watching it.

In the end I did see the whole film and was glad that I did.

I cannot 'hand on heart' recommend Fur..... as I feel it is one of those films that we simply love or hate. However in my case I simply can't decide and I feel I shall have to watch it again in order to decide which way I feel.

If you like surreal and/or the actors, give the film a viewing, thats the only way to decide how you personally feel.

Plutus

In 1958, in New York City, the upper class Diane Arbus (Nicole Kidman) is a frustrated and lonely woman with a conventional marriage with two daughters. Her husband is a photographer sponsored by the wealthy parents of Diane, and she works as his assistant. When Lionel Sweeney (Robert Downey Jr.), a mysterious man with hypertrichosis (a.k.a. werewolf syndrome, a disease that causes excessive body hair), comes to live in the apartment in the upper floor, Diane feels a great attraction for him and is introduced to the world of freaks and marginalized people, falling in love for Lionel.

"Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus" is a weird movie, actually a bizarre romance with characters that recall "The Beauty and the Beast". Nicole Kidman is impressively beautiful and gives an awesome performance together with Robert Downey Jr. The director Steven Shainberg from "Secretary" presents another unconventional love story – probably his favorite theme. While I loved "Secretary", a love story between a masochist and a sadistic, I did not like the idea of a "pseudo-biography" of a real woman disclosed in "Fur". I have never heard anything about the photographer Diane Arbus, but I believe that if she was my ancestral, I would not like to see in the movie theaters or on DVD an "imaginary portrait" of her. If this romance is not true or biographical, in my opinion the screenplay should have considered a fictional character. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Pele" ("The Fur")