Review of Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) by Mata H — 09 May 2008
In 1958, in New York City, the upper class Diane Arbus 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, a mysterious man with hypertrichosis ( 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 with Lionel.
Coming across a Gillian-lite, director Steven Shainberg is more preoccupied with atmosphere and weirdness to realistically suggest what actually made this woman tick, while essentially being based on nothing substantially true.
Fur means to plant the seeds on what gave this important photographer an inner logic that helped redefine her craft, though instead ends up wallowing in it's own superficial quirks and thematic bludgeoning.
"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.
His portrayal of Lionel is amazing, he makes him seductive, mysterious, sympathetic and lovable. The film is obviously a work of love and one that honors the life of Diane Arbus, even though we are not given much true information about the woman.
This review of Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) was written by Mata H on 09 May 2008.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus has generally received mixed reviews.
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