If you only see one documentary this year... then your average is even lower than mine and we should both try to get out a little more. Meanwhile, think about making it this one...*
Who would have thought universal time-waster, brain-clutterer and occasional heart-breaker, Facebook, would be such fertile ground for great cinematic stories? Between Fincher and a couple of kids from Brooklyn, we have two pieces cinema far more worthy of four hours of your time than any cyber-social networking site.
When it comes to all things story (films, books, television) I will almost always choose fiction over fact.
Take film.
In my mind (where, admittedly, rationality is not always the priority) a fiction film has the potential to be perfect whereas a documentary never can be. A fictional film has more control whereas documentary is at the mercy of the events that unfold and the makers have to be lucky enough to catch them with whatever means they can.
In reality, that is precisely what makes documentary so special. Fact can be far crazier than fiction. And to capture these moments on film or uncover them in hours of rushes can be extraordinary.
Which brings us to Catfish.
A young photographer, Nev, from Brooklyn starts a cyber friendship with a young girl called Abby who does paintings of his photos. Through Abby, Nev befriends her whole family via Facebook and ends up falling for and having a cyber/text relationship with Abby's older sister, Megan.
This film is one very fun ride and superbly crafted. I was literally on the edge of my seat at one point. It's taut and well-structured with clever use of google maps and other computer/interweb devices. I would really like to shake the editor's deft hand.
But the real issue here is authenticity. On a couple of fronts. I'll try to keep my spoilers as vague and ambiguous as possible but it's hard to talk about the film without giving a bit away.
Firstly - regarding the content of the film - is a relationship any less real just because the mode of communication is written words? Not at all. People have fallen in love through words since people began falling in love. And cyber communication arguably gives people the safety and freedom to express how and what they wish they could in person. Also, if Steve Martin taught us anything in Roxanne, it's that sentiments can still be real even if identity isn't.
The second question regards the authenticity of the documentary itself. At the time, I thought the film was surprisingly sensitive, given that it was made by a bunch of trustafarians from Williamsburg (for those not in the know "trustafarians" are kids who live bohemian and artistic lives thanks to the generosity of their parents' trust funds). Interestingly, what I interpreted as "sensitive and considerate", McNutty interpreted as exploitative and the more I think and read about the film, the more I think he is onto something.
Nev is likeable enough, in that he is handsome and comfortable chatting away to a camera, but I don't know that he is the most thoughtful and kind person. And now I am no longer caught up in the thrill of the narrative, I am even more wary of him and his cohorts. Although they did put the film together in a way that is empathetic to everyone in it.
The film is actually so well put together that it has led to suspicions that it is a little too slick. There is speculation, for example, that some scenes are staged and/or recreated but all documentaries are crafted and constructed to a degree. The real question is, did Nev and the filmmakers suspect the outcome of the story long before they appeared to in the film? If so, then it is not Megan's authenticity that is in doubt, it's theirs. If they really did know what they were dealing with then it's possible half of this documentary is deliberately staged to fulfil their agenda. Nev continued his cyber relationship with Megan not through genuine infatuation but to tease out the inevitable ending. A fun and surprising story about identity and cyber-relationships could potentially (and disturbingly) be a tale about three smug hipsters exploiting a sad and lonely woman to combat 20-something ennui and give legitimacy to their marginally productive "film production" venture.
Well... here's hoping that these hipsters really do have a heart. See for yourself and decide.
*Actually, if you are literally only going to see one, make it Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's The Staircase. This is by far and away THE. BEST. DOCUMENTARY. I have ever seen. Small-town celebrity author, Michael Peterson, finds his wife dead at the bottom of their staircase. The 8-part documentary follows as his murder trial unfolds. It twists and turns in ways that would be laughed out of a Bold and the Beautiful script meeting. I promise you will love it and ponder it long after the final credits roll.
