Old Documents (revised)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
Opens Friday, November 17

"I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don’t like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself."
Diane Arbus

Viewing art is interpretative, and often reveals only what the viewer is intended to see. Crawling inside the head of an artist is another matter entirely. Steven Shainberg’s exploration of brilliance and conflict within the creative mind of Diane Arbus captures her unintended perspective of the world in a convincing and plausible way. A "tribute" to the 1960’s landmark photographer, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane, invites the viewer into the hyper-reality of a woman troubled by her own strangeness. Suggesting Arbus’ odd sensibilities, Fur loses its exotic aura, dissolving into silliness and visual contrivance once all the dark corners have been illuminated. Robert Downey Jr. is wasted in an absurd Beauty and The Beast scenario, which is sadly, the focus of this film. Nichole Kidman is poorly cast, but her vanilla portrayal doesn’t detract from what works in the first half, and can’t save what doesn’t in the second.

"I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse."