House of Sand (Andrucha Waddington, 2005) Grade: B+
In Brazil 1910, a man (Ruy Guerra) takes wife Áurea (Fernanda Torres) and mother-in-law Dona Maria (Fernanda Montenegro) to the far-away desert, where he has bought a piece of land. But when he unexpectedly dies, Áurea spends the rest of her life trying to return to civilization. Visually stunning and well cast, this slow-paced, quiet film serves as a metaphor for life, as the characters struggle against their fates in search of something better. As the years pass, Áurea adapts to her life and establishes a family with former slave Massu (Seu Jorge) while her daughter, Maria (Camilla Facundes), remains defiant and seeks escape, leaving the viewer to wonder if it’s complacency and resignation that keep people where they are in life or simply human’s ability to adapt and make the best of things.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (Steven Shainberg, 2006) Grade: C+
Based loosely on Patricia Bosworth’s biography, this “imaginary portrait” creates fictional character Lionel (Harry Connick Jr.) to be symbolic of photographer Arbus’ creativity and vision. This method works to some degree, as the filmmakers were adamantly opposed to making a standard biopic, and it also provides us with a better sense of the relationships Arbus formed with her subjects. The fundamental problem here is the casting of Nicole Kidman as the photographer, who was manic depressive and a bit of “freak” herself, like the subjects she photographed. Kidman, who appears well-dressed and pristine throughout the film, never convincingly portrays Arbus, which is enough of a criticism for the entire film to fall apart.