Fur

Posted by Maggie Van Ostrand (maggie@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 23, 2007

Fur is a movie you can never forget, though you may want to. It’s easy to understand why the trailer won the eighth annual Golden Fleece for Best False Advertising. They’re careful to call it “An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus” — they should’ve just made the movie and left her name off it. With Diane Arbus’s name attached to the title, you think you’re getting at least some sort of biographical film about the world renowned photographer. But you’re not.

What you do get is an inside look at someone else’s freakish imagination, without the originality. Granted, Robert Downey, Jr. does a great job as the hairy whack job who lives upstairs from the fake Diane Arbus, portrayed hesitatingly by Nicole Kidman, but you have to adore hairy whack jobs to stay interested in whether or not she shaves him. I wasn’t. And I am a Downey fan. His (admittedly fictional} character, who seems to be director Steven Shainberg’s answer to “It” from The Addams Family, introduces the fictitious Diane to all sorts of urban fringe characters, but they aren’t half as interesting as the real characters photographed by the real Diane. The movie appears to have been named after Downey’s character and might well have caused a boycott led by Bob Barker who failed at having the character neutered.

The real Diane Arbus, whose family evidently gave permission for this travesty (insofar as accuracy of her life) should have their photographs placed alongside the freaks Arbus was famous for photographing. She was married to and remained in love with one-time husband, photographer-cum-actor Allan Arbus (Ty Burrell), most famous for his role as the shrink on the television version of “M*A*S*H”. He also plays Uncle Nathan on Curb Your Enthusiasm, with a zillion film and television appearances in between those cited.

Nicole Kidman appears to suffer from the Oscar Syndrome (more about that in another article in the hopper) where, once won, the Oscar seems to elude most actors by causing them to select roles that are really questionable taste-wise. Her wealthy and disapproving parents are played by Jane Alexander and Harris Yulin who look as though they think they don’t belong in this 50s period picture, and they’d be right.

Had Federico Fellini undertaken this project, we would’ve had something unique and wonderful.

The Upside: Set decoration by Carrie Stewart is interesting, particularly the hallway to Downey’s apartment.

The Downside: Direction of such normally good actors left a lot to be desired. I haven’t yet seen Shainberg’s film, Secretary, with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader, so let’s hope Fur is an aberration.

Notes: According to IMdB, Downey’s dad made “Greasers Palace” starring Allan Arbus. Samantha Morton was originally cast as Arbus, and MGM had once optioned this movie for Diane Keaton.

However, according to the Patricia Bosworth book on which Fur was purportedly based (Bosworth was also listed as producer), the real Diane Arbus was an incredibly sensual woman to whom many men were attracted despite that she was not beautiful by normal standards. For example, she did not shave any part of her body. Perhaps that side of her was the one played by Downey. Yeah, that must be it. Diane IS Fur.

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