Released in 2006 and directed by Steven Shainberg this film was a TOTAL find for me! I only picked this up because it had Robert Downey Jr and it suggested nudity. I shamefully have to admit that I didn't care about the story or who it was based on before a pressed the PLAY button on my laptop, but as the film played on I realised it was about thee Diane Arbus, the photographer. She famously took photographs of the weird, the fascinating and the wonderful.Anyway, this film shows a fictional portrait of her and what inspired her to become
a photographer. This film is about image, sexuality and acceptance.
This beautifully shot piece paints the image of a housewife (Nicole Kidman), restricted by social conformity, who tries to break out and find herself.
Her realisation is helped by her new neighbor, an ex circus performer (played
by RDJ) who suffers from a condition in which hair grows on every part of his body.
The film delightfully makes a strange comparison with what's 'normal' and what isn't, commenting on the surface value of society by breaking it down; placing hand-in-hand love and acceptance.
