Engrossing Catfish an Online Exposé
The question following Catfish since its debut at this past January’s Sundance Film Festival had little to nothing to do with its quality. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman do a great job constructing their documentary narrative, assembling a picture that’s immensely entertaining and extremely easy to watch. No, the question had to do with its authenticity, everything playing out in just so perfect a way as to make people wonder if what was happening onscreen was more scripted than real.
Nev Schulman in Catfish © Universal Pictures/Rogue Pictures
Unlike the recent announcement by Casey Affleck that his Joaquin Phoenix documentary is indeed a fake, I have no idea if Joost and Schuman are pulling are leg. What I do know is that even if they are they’ve still managed to craft a film that is one heck of a lot fun to watch. I enjoyed it pretty much all the way through, and the increasingly weirder it got the more I wanted to keep going down the rabbit hole the directors were descending through.
The story is relatively simple. New York photographer Nev Schulman strikes up a friendship with an 8-year-old girl who sends him paintings inspired by his photos. Soon he’s chatting with the girl’s mother, befriending her as well. Next, he’s having conversations with her sexy 19-year-old sister, exchanging photos on Facebook, texting and talking on the phone entering into a relationship bordering on the romantic.
They have never met. He only knows what any of them look like based on their Facebook photos. Every time he brings up the idea of meeting in person something always seems to come up. But there is a genuineness to three ladies Schulman is captivated by, believing they’re on the up and up even if everything they say doesn’t always quite add together.
I’m not supposed to talk about what happens but it doesn’t take a brain scientist to realize everything isn’t quite what it seems. I imagine Catfish would make an awesome double feature to Barbara Schroeder’s Talhotblond: or would be about the perfect lead-in to David Fincher’s upcoming The Social Network. What it says about our current online culture is timely and something I imagine a lot of people will be able to relate to in one way or the other, and while the outcome is surprising the central twist is anything but.
If it is all an act Joost and Schuman have done a great job of making it feel realistic. There is pain here, real pathos mixed with redemptive humor that held me captivated. The emotions I had for Nev were honestly earned and entirely justified, and even if they turn out to be scripted they’re still authentic enough I doubt my opinion on that front will ever remotely change.
As to say more would ruin the central mysteries, I’m forced to leave things pretty much at that. Catfish isn’t remotely perfect, Joost and Schuman inserting themselves into the narrative more than I typically like and the continuously shaky handheld footage did give me a wee bit of a headache. But in all honesty I was enthralled by the story, wanted to know how Nev was going to react to the information given to him. The film works, and factuality be damned this online exposé still showcases an insight into our modern technologically driven society that is easily 100-percent authentic.
Film Rating: êêê (out of 4)
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