FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS Film Review - 17/5/07

This is a Diane Arbus portrait - Notice how closely the resemblance is between the portrait and the film's poster (below) in style...

Essentially a surrealistic trip through various imaginings of the work of influential photographer Diane Arbus. "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus" shows Kidman's character of Diane Arbus turning her back on her wealthy family and falling in with her enigmatic mentor played by Robert Downey, Jr. who basically introduces her to the seedier side in life of the marginalised people who helped her become one of the most revered & iconic photographers of her time. As a 1950s uptight and repressed wife/assistant to her husband; she breaks barriers through into the sixties and finds her own way in life, ultimately committing suicide in 1971. Starting in 1958 we get an "imagined" and somewhat fanciful tale of desire and repression, spontaneity and expression in a whole catalogue of bizarre and downbeat situations. Feeling like a black & white film (But actually in Colour) this covers the action in front of the camera lens and behind it.