|
Catfish
| Released |
17 December 2010 |
| Director |
Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost |
Starring
|
Nev Schulman, Megan Faccio, Melody C. Roscher, Ariel Schulman |
Producer(s)
|
Andrew Jarecki, Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman, Marc Smerling |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
87 minutes |
| Genre |
Documentary, drama |
| Rating |
12A |
|
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Hook, line and sinker.
Catfish has been garnering as much criticism as plaudits since its release.
It’s the Facebook film. No not the slick David Fincher production about the rise and rise of Mark Zuckerberg, the other one, the slightly more left of field supposed documentary directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. I say ‘supposed’ because there’s been some question as to its authenticity as a documentary; everything from its initial set up to its baffling events to its not-as-startling-as-its-trailer-might-suggest-conclusion seeming a little too contrived to be regarded as straight documentary or a film that shoots from the proverbial hip.
Nevertheless what a setup. Almost like one of those enthralling documentaries found late at night on Channel 4, Catfish (whether it was scripted or not) pounces upon an unspoken, largely unexplored cultural phenomenon or rather its darker side and opens it up in a way that braids it together into a story that works both as a contained narrative and a tale with universal appeal.
Following Ariel’s brother Nev, a New York photographer, Catfish starts innocuously enough when a young girl, Abbie Pierce, asks permission to paint one of his photographs. Where it ends, however, is very strange and much like the question of the documentary’s own construction speaks about ideas of people’s gullibility, representation, authenticity, verisimilitude.
Nev’s friendship with young Abbie progresses as he comes to know her mother, father and older sister Megan all through that most prolific of social networking tools, Facebook, and eventually a serious long distance love affair develops between him and Megan. There are moments of genuine affection in the movie throughout as the relationship blossoms and Catfish does well to keep the audience interested on what is essentially the thinnest of premises. It isn’t, of course, unexpected when things begin to go awry and there wouldn’t be much of a film without a few well placed twists that generate suspense but Catfish is definitely a film worth watching and an enjoyable if slightly odd venture in documentary (if that’s what it actually is).
- Cormac O’Brien |
