A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Date Viewed: 11/19/06

Details:

Nicole Kidman

Robert Downey Jr.

Ty Burrell

Director: Steven Shainberg

Score: 3/4

The Review: Fictional -- repeat, fictional -- biography of three months in the life of Diane Arbus, an important American photographer and portraitist. This limited release art film explores that period in 1958 during her (purported) "transformation" -- in which she was inspired to begin her photographic career, concomitantly destroying her family and married life. Derived from the recent (2005) biography by Patricia Bosworth.

You've probably seen Arbus' work, even if you have not recognized it. In the words of a recent retrospective article (issue 36 of B&W), "she was mostly interested in photographing subcultures of people who existed largely on the fringes of society -- dwarfs, giants, circus performers, nudists, strippers, transvestites, female impersonators." Her images have become part of the history of American art, and you see some possible origins of her interest in these subjects as the film unfolds. Indeed, the focus of the film is her developing interaction (obsession?) with the character of Lionel Sweeney (Downey), a composite fiction, made all the more interesting because he manifests a severe case of congenital hypertrichosis (OMIM) coupled with pulmonary insufficiency, giving him an unusual personal back-story and a tendency towards mystery and social isolation.

Although never a big fan of Diane Arbus' work, I am a fan of Nicole Kidman's work. Her approach to Diane (pronounced Dee-ann) is disturbing, if only for its apparent effortlessness and her ability to make Sweeney's intellectual seduction seem normal and unexceptional.

(26-Nov-06)

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