Fur - An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus details
| Format: | 12 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Jane Alexander, Harris Yulin, Robert Downey Jr., Nicole Kidman, Ty Burrell |
| Director: | Steven Shainberg |
| Genres: | Drama - General, Romance - General |
| Studio: | ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Fur - An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus |
12 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 09 Jul 2007 |
| Main languages: | English |
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LOVEFiLM Review
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By Tom Charity from LOVEFiLMNicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr star in this drama.
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Most helpful review
How to succeed without even trying
By MartinEvening (12 reviews) from London , 12 Nov 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
When I was at art college there were those who loved to create and those who would forever analyse and pontificate about art. I have a feeling the writer of this film's script belongs to the latter camp. To be fair, there is a clue in the title: this is an 'imaginary' tale of how Diane Arbus came to be a legendary photographer. Or to put it another way, this is a completely made-up, over-romanticised story about how to become an artist.
The one positive thing to say about the movie is that it is sumptuously art directed and there are aspects to it which are beautiful to watch But none of this cannot redeem what is essentially a trite portrayal of someone who was a very real artist and who I imagine had to work very hard indeed to get published and noticed.
To give you an example of what I mean (without giving too much away here) Nicole Kidman's character hardly has to do anything to achieve her greatness – apparently, everything was brought to her on a plate. Her key motivating subject is an upstairs neighbour. He in turn introduces her to everyone she needs to photograph. Meanwhile, it is down to someone else to find her unprocessed films, develop, edit and print a whole portfolio worth of pictures for her (in a single night!) She doesn't even have to buy a portfolio book to put the prints in. It's all done for her!
All in all, this movie is a slackers paradise where anyone who dreams of achieving fame and success can do so without having to do very much really, while mum, dad, friends and neighbours do all the grafting for you and you just have toremember to get out of bed to pick up the awards and go on book signing tours. If that's you, you'll love this film.
It didn't tell me any secrets.- Was this review helpful to you?
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(72)Ed Wood-style quirky
By margo_channing (12 reviews) , 01 Sep 2012Don't know much about Arbus in real life, but I enjoyed this tremendously. It was kooky in an 'Ed Wood' way (although I've not seen Ed Wood for years it came to mind). Very entertaining, the imagery was great; colours and camera work making for a magical feel that ads to the storytelling. Kidman and Downey Junior a great pairing. The scenes on the beach very moving. A great tale well told, true or not.
Not sure why I'd never heard of this, glad I stumbled upon it, recommend you give it a whirl.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Simply brill
By a customer , 08 Mar 2012A film which leaves much to the imagination. Interesting and intriguing, Nicole Kidman pulls off Diana Arbus to a tee. Robert Downey Junior steps into a new light, mimicking moments from Sherlock Holmes and shedding a new skin on being a freak. Everyone should see this film, a must for any film buff!- Was this review helpful to you?
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Beauty and the beasty
By Whipster (663 reviews) from Shropshire , 20 Feb 2012I could almost feel the vitriolic reviews rising as I watched this almost surrealistic movie, but for me it features a tour-de-force from Nicole Kidman. She really is amazing facially. Able to show fear, sadness, joy, confusion with apparent ease. And mixed emotions are what this movie is all about. Robert Downey Jnr as the 'freak' next door works well as the foil for Kidman's bored (if not slightly mentally disturbed) housewife. His strange world allows her freedoms that she could only imagine in her own restricted lifestyle. A strange love affair ensues. An almost David Lynch feel adds to the quality. Great colour pallet and attention to detail. It may be self indulgent but I enjoyed it immensely. 4 stars.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Absolute Rubbish
By geordierover (4 reviews) , 13 Oct 2011Absolute Rubbish, why bother making this...self indulgent C***.
The other negative reviewers are right if any thing this deservers a minus rating.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Finding the true artist
By Zamy (552 reviews) from London , 13 Apr 2011This film is not a biography of Diane Arbus more a tribute to her as an artist (we are told at the film’s beginning). So we watch a woman constrained in a bourgeois family and marriage blossom as a photographic artist after she falls under the spell of her very strange upstairs neighbour, Lionel. Or rather we don’t because we never see Diane raise her Rollaflex and actually get down to the business of making her art. Instead we watch as Lionel introduces her to the underworld of New York bohemia to her great fascination. We have a problem with what is the story of Diane Arbus and what is cinematic invention. Was there really a strange Lionel in her life? Most of us like a good biopic so we feel a bit cheated. Actually Robert Downey is rather good as Lionel, although some of his dialogue was inaudible to me and Nicole Kidman looks as if she knows what she’s doing with the part (I must admit to being a fan of her work), although I don’t believe her as a photographic artist (which Diane clearly was). This is a puzzle of a movie and Kidman is often drawn to these challenges: see ‘Birth’ for example. But while that film seems to improve with repeat viewings I have no desire to return to ‘Fur’ anytime soon. A failure in the scripting and direction is my verdict, but interesting to see for the acting of Kidman and Downey.- Was this review helpful to you?
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