Catfish (2010)
Summary
Genre: Documentary, MysteryGoodies:
+ A well-crafted story, + A 'fakeumentary' that works on a variety of levels, + Tenuous situations that have you guessing throughout the filmBaddies:
- Does not really have a ton of replay valueIn late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel’s brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of their lives. A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online in
SPOILER WARNING : Just by the nature of the film, and how it is uncovered, you may not want to read my review until after you have seen the film. Part of the experience of the film is going on the journey with the filmmakers and I will def. be talking about stuff that happens near the end.
AND BEGIN : Catfish is brilliant! For the last few days, I have been doing a lot of research about the controversy surrounding it (i.e. whether it is a real documentary or not). The filmmakes say it is “very real” (but there were some scenes that were reshot/staged). After my obsessive search online, I realize (after seeing the film), it doesn’t matter. This film stands as a story, a piece, a narrative without needing the notion of fiction or non-fiction. The story is compelling both as a metaphor and as a literal iteration. The thing that I love so much about this film is that it elicited many different emotions from me. We go on this voyage with Nev to Michigan to see if the people he has been talking to online are what they say they are. While they are traveling there, I felt a bit anxious about their journey. When Nev knocks on the door, I feel fear (they may be crazy people), when they meet Angela, I feel uncertain (as she is still lying about the whole situation), as their meeting progresses, I feel sympathy (for both Nev and Angela) — that is a WHOLE LOT OF FEELING. If a film can get me to feel one strong feeling, I think it’s a success, to take me to so many different places makes the film phenomenal. Also, the fact that I no longer care about it’s veracity proves to me that the film is successful beyond description (as I obsess over these fact/fiction type films — most of them being in the fiction category). The characters/people were likable (even Angela), which made the journey that much sweeter. Looking at the film from it’s two perspectives : narrative and metaphor, so much is gained. On the side of a narrative, you get this very intense mystery film about uncovering the truth behind a very complex lie, and on the metaphor side, we get a litmus test of our social-online climate and the reality of online identity. The film serves to viewers on many levels and creates compelling emotional states as well as a terrific story. Of the films I have seen in 2011 thus far, this is byfar the best of them all.
Trailer
Trailer Warning : I haven’t actually watched the trailer, and I have heard several people say that the movie does not line up with the trailer, so maybe it is best to stay away, but if you cannot contain yourself, it is below.
I disagree with you completely. I felt like this movie was a disappointment; like the writers and filmmakers had an excellent idea and halfway through got bored with their OWN concept, so gave up. The entire film parallels “Blair Witch Project” – a forced pretend-documentary that the filmmakers tried too hard to pass off to viewers as real. And the trailer was manipulated in a way that is totally misleading and misrepresentative of what the films about.
A lot of people i’ve spoken to about the film has talked about the misleading nature of the trailer – luckily I think I avoided a bit of distaste from never seeing the trailer and not feeling like I was given something I wasn’t expecting. Despite the pseudo-realism of the style / documentary – I think in order to see it for what it was, you have to sort of accept those things and move on. The reason I liked it so much was more the story of the woman. I did find it to be a bit slow in the beginning, but once he headed off to actually meet her, and especially him speaking with her, I was really invested, and by the end of it, very emotionally invested (also I think I liked the moral ambiguity of it). I think for a lot of people this film was hit or miss.