Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Genre: Drama/Love Story

The Four Questions:

Is is life changing? Ummm, not really, but it is quite moving.

Did you cry/laugh/want to punch someone/jump up in the air? I did tear up a bit.

Would I buy it? Yes, I would certainly buy it.

Who would you recommend this movie to? I would recommend this to my hip, philosophy spouting, chain smoking, poetry slam competing friends. *Or* Your friends who wear black mini skirts and tall black pleather boots even though it's summer and really hot outside. This isn't a movie for grandma, unless your grandma knew Bettie Paige, before she became a Christian.

:::About the movie:::

Fur is directed by Steven Shainberg, who brought us the first S&M classic "Secretary." Fur stars Oscar winner Nicole Kidman as Diane Arbus and Robert Downey, Jr. as Lionel. The movie is inspired by the book "Diane Arbus: A Biography." According to the Official Fur website, Diane Arbus' photographs changed the way beauty was viewed, indefinitely.

For those that are interested, here are some of Diane Arbus' photos:

Here is an excellent website of PHOTOS.

Here is a wiki link about Diane Arbus.

:::The Review:::

I must admit, I love that my first movie review on this blog is Fur. I really did like it. I had not heard of this movie until I randomly found it on HBO. It is very unusual for me to randomly come across a movie and adore it. But this is an exception.

Fur is a movie based on a true story. Like many tales, it is one that has been told many times before. It is the story of a middle aged woman facing an existential crisis. Diane Arbus is stuck in a life she never imagined for herself. She finds herself taking photos for her husband's business, little artistic inspiration, raising her children, and a repressed sexuality. As the movie is set in the late 1950s, this is certainly the story for most women at the time.

But Diane meets an interesting stranger, cue Robert Downey, Jr. Even covered in yards of hair with only his eyes and lips visible, Downey had me riveted. Far from being revolted by Downey's unique appearance, the watcher is intrigued by his hermit existence and the underground world of "freaks" and the late 1950s counterculture in which he exists. Like Diane, we are seduced by all these new experiences, tastes and sounds. In one scene, the pair are reclining on a daybed in a little person's underground nightclub, having just returned from a drag show when Diane asks Lionel if he has ever met a women like himself. Lionel replies that he had. Then he looks her in the eyes and states he is "looking for a real freak." Having witnessed their evening we have learned that Diane isn't as demure as her parents or husband believed she was. We also learn that Diane loves her newfound world. She feels quite at home in the sideshow.

However, there is a certain element of circus sideshow to this film that could have been tempered. As it is, I can't believe that sideshow performers actually lived in s apartments decorated like circus sideshow tents. Also, there is a certain silliness to Downey's costuming, which is yet another attempt at fantasy which should have been avoided. As this movie's goal is to be an existential crisis of one women looking for her place in the world; the silliness seems to mock her situation.

Overall, I tend to enjoy love stories, especially if they are unique. Sorry to be such a girl about it. But for someone who has often questioned her place in the world, has often played the dual part of the hermit and the society girl, and has also felt like a bearded freak, I loved this movie.