Beyond Appearances: A Furry Film Retrospective

By (O)CT(O)PUS

This post is the first in a series of curated commentaries on film titled: Movies About Photography. I am not referring to documentary films that blur the distinction between photography and cinematography, nor am I speaking of movies that employ fetching compositions,  long dolly shots, special effects, or subtle qualities of light and shadow. If you are interested in great cinematography, I recommend:

Barry Lyndon (1975), a Stanley Kubrick film best known for painterly cinematography, often shot under natural candle light and reminiscent of the Northern Renaissance;

 The Third Man (1949).  A film noir classic, directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene, this film is noted for extreme camera angles, tilted compositions, and long shadows that invoke a sense of menace and intrigue.

These aforementioned movies employ great cinematography but are not about photography. My focus here is not on visualizations that “throw nerves in patterns on a screen,” but on the drama itself, specifically the relationships and tensions between photographers and their subjects, as in these films:

Blowup (1966). Set in 1960s London, this Antonioni film is a study in ennui and disconnectedness against a tableaux of modern pop culture.  Other great films narrated from a photographer viewpoint include: Apocalypse Now (1979), Salvador (1986), The Killing Fields (1984), and Rear Window (1954).

For this post, I have chosen Fur (2006), subtitled “An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus,” directed by Steven Shainberg. As the subtitle suggests, “An Imaginary Portrait” is a pseudo-biography, a work of fiction drawn from the life of Diane Arbus but not necessarily a true biopic. Nevertheless, it is helpful to know a few details about her life and work to more fully appreciate the themes interwoven in this film.

Born Diane Nemerov on March 14, 1923, she is the daughter of David and Gertrude Nemerov of New York City, who were the proprietors of Russek’s, a Fifth Avenue retail store specializing in high fashion furs. Her older brother would later become the acclaimed poet, Howard Nemerov, winner of the Pulitzer prize for poetry and Poet Laureate of the United States.

In 1941 at age 18, Diane married Allan Arbus who learned photography during a stint in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Together, they started a commercial photography business called “Diane and Allan Arbus” with Diane serving as Art Director and Allan behind the camera. Their first bread-and-butter client was Russek’s, the retail store owned and operated by her parents. Over the years, their work appeared in such magazines as Glamour, Seventeen, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.

Diane attended the New School for Social Research and studied photography under Berenice Abbott and Lisette Model, the latter having the most dominant influence on her style and technique. In 1956, she quit the commercial photography business to strike out on her own. Here are some of her most iconic images:

Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, NYC (1962).  This photo prompted Norman Mailer to say in 1971: "Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child."  A print of this photo sold at auction in 2005 for $408,000.

Teenage Couple on Hudson Street, NYC (1963).

Tattooed Man at a Carnival in Maryland (1970).

Identical Twins, Roselle Park NJ (1967).  In his film, The Shining, Stanley Kubrick frames an identical pose, mimicking this composition.  A print sold at auction in 2004. Price: $478,000.

A Family on their Lawn One Sunday in Westchester, NY (1968).  In 2008, a print sold at auction for $553,000.

Russian Midget Friends in a Living Room on 100th Street, NYC (1963)

A Jewish Giant at Home with his Parents in the Bronx, NY (1970), where the parents reverse roles and appear as dwarfs in stark contrast to their oversized son.  A print sold at auction in 2007.  Price: $421,000. 

A Very Young Baby, NYC (1968).  First appearing in Harper’s Bazaar, it is a portrait of Gloria Vanderbilt’s infant son, Anderson Cooper, now known as CNN’s ubiquitous news anchor.

Diane Arbus died on June 26, 1971, a suicide at age 48, thus joining the ranks of other brilliant, unconventional, and tragic artists such as Sylvia Plath and Janis Joplin. She is survived by two daughters, Doon (a writer) and Amy (a photographer).  What became of Allan, her former husband?

After their separation and divorce, he dissolved their commercial photography business and turned to acting - landing roles in such films as W.C. Fields and Me (1976) and the Omen trilogy. He is best known for television roles in M*A*S*H, Law & Order, LA Law, and Matlock, among others.

One ironic footnote: Allan’s acting career took off after landing the lead role in the cult film, Greaser's Palace, where the character played by Allan kills the character played by Robert Downey, Jr, who would later star in Fur.

Diane Arbus has been called the chronicler of:

“deviant and marginal people, of dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists, and circus performers, of people who appear ugly or surreal, the photographer of freaks.”

The critic Susan Sontag wrote of her work, “In photographing dwarfs, you don’t get majesty and beauty. You get dwarfs.” Later critics criticized Sontag for “shallowness” and raised important aesthetic and moral concerns, namely:

Do accidents of birth or circumstance of so-called “marginal people” render them unworthy as human beings … and therefore unworthy as subjects of art?

If we sentimentalize so-called freaks or present more sanitized images of them, would these portraits be considered honest?  Or would we be accused of misrepresentation, of falsifying the loneliness of spirit felt by social outcasts, thus robbing them of a fundamental truth - their authenticity and humanity?

Often, our greatest artists break with convention and break the rules to extend our vision, even when we don’t like what we see. Over time, the legacy of Diane Arbus has grown as later critics have offered these reassessments:

“An extraordinary ethical conviction” (Max Kozloff, 1967)

“Altered the terms of the art” (Hilton Kramer, 1972)

“Filled with life and energy” (Barbara O’Brien, 2004)

Acquaintances and former subjects of her photography have come forward with these anecdotes:

“I have it in my bedroom, I think it’s great.” (Anderson Cooper, 2005)

“She captured the loneliness of everyone … I think that's how she felt about herself. She hoped that by wallowing in that feeling, through photography, she could transcend herself" (Colin Wood, the former child with the toy hand grenade, reminiscing at age 50).

"That's their 401(k).” (Bob Wade, father of the Roselle Park Twins, who saved the original complementary print sent to the Wade family by Diane Arbus).

Initially, audiences were no more predisposed to the film than they were to the works of Diane Arbus. The film opened in 2006 to poor reviews:

A Visual Chronicler of Humanity's Underbelly, Draped in a Pelt of Perversity

(New York Times, Nov 10, 2006)

Produced on a budget of $16.8 million, the film grossed less than $3M at the box office. However, just as the stock of Diane Arbus, the artist, has risen in posterity on the Dow-Jones of critical acclaim, so too have retrospectives of Shainberg’s movie. This review says it best:

“Anyone can read a book about the real life Arbus; but how on earth is that enriching the cinematic medium? (…) This film takes us inside [her] world and gives us a beautifully told and imaginative back-story that blends elements of real-life fact with references to Gothic literature, fairy stories, history and the subjective power of the art itself. The creative spirit of this film is exactly in tune with Arbus's creative vision” (International Movie Database, 2008).

A few words on the title of the film:  Here are a series of richly layered literary allusions that play off multiple meanings of the word 'fur':

• Russek’s, the Fifth Avenue department store owned by Diane’s parents who retailed high fashion furs;
• Hypertrichosis, a condition that causes excessive body hair, also known as Werewolf Syndrome;
• The character, Lionel Sweeney (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is a social outcast afflicted with hypertrichosis.
• An homage to Beauty and the Beast (1946), a classic film by the legendary poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker, Jean Cocteau. Here is a short trailer:

Although generations apart in style and mode of story telling, Beauty and the Beast and Fur are variations of a Cinderella story. The beautiful maiden is rescued, not by a handsome prince, but by an ugly beast whose ugliness is the catalyst of a spiritual journey. Winning the maiden’s love breaks the curse and transforms the beast into a handsome prince. The influence of Jean Cocteau on Steven Shainberg, as told through the imaginary portrait of Diane Arbus, is about:

Learning to see beyond appearances.

What would Diane Arbus say about the underbelly of humanity shunned by bourgeois society and the guardians of conformity, of those who appear ugly or surreal, who will remain unknown and unseen unless she photographed them?  Here is Diane Arbus in her own words:

"There's a quality of legend about freaks. Like a person in a fairy tale who stops you and demands that you answer a riddle. Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats."

As the beast in Jean Cocteau’s film says with simple humility:

“I have a good heart … but I am a monster.”

In the works of Jean Cocteau, Diane Arbus, and Steven Shainberg, every person is an iteration of humanity, and every life represents a longing for affirmation, validation, and connectedness. It is a timeless theme explored by generations of artists.  So what does the movie, Fur, tell us about the relationships and tensions between the artist and the subject? Here are a few closing thoughts on photography as an art form:

“We photograph not only what we know, but also what we don’t know"

(Lisette Model).

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know"

(Diane Arbus).

“The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer"

(author unknown).

What more can your humble (O)CT(O)PUS add? You’ll just have to rent these films and experience them for yourself.