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Parents' Guide to

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Biopic is smart, but leaves questions unanswered.

Movie R 2006 120 minutes
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

age 16+

Everyone is beautiful in their own way

I absolutely loved the relationship of Lionel & Diane in this movie. It's a really different but beautiful film. It shows love & compassion for people who might be different from others, but are equally beautiful in other ways, maybe even more sensitive and caring because of their differences. It's a good film for teaching sensitivity to kids. It shows that everyone needs and deserves love. :)

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Unusual and sometimes disturbing, FUR: AN IMAGINARY PORTRAIT OF DIANE ARBUS doesn't so much show the photographer's life as imagine how she experienced it. Inspired by Patricia Bosworth's Diane Arbus: A Biography, this is a risky project, interpreting instead of reporting biographical events, and it will trouble some viewers for taking such artistic and emotional license.

A passionate, earnest film braced by Kidman's taut performance, Fur keeps its distance from its subject. The central questions of her work -- What is her relationship with her subjects? Are her famous portraits of "freaks" exploitative or self-exploratory, images of deep relationships between subject and artist, or ways to distance them from their viewers? -- remain unanswered.

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