Movie Review of Catfish
True and false do not matter in “Catfish”, a (pseudo?) Documentary about the infinite possibilities of the Internet where everyone can be what he wants. Yet this is a lesson that everyone knows, right?
A guy from New York, befriends a girl from Michigan through email and electronic trading networks. At the beginning everything is fine: telephone conversations are pleasant and the many text messages are gradually an intimate relationship. Off is that the pretty girl really exist? To be sure, the young man decides to go see for himself.
It is strange that two documentaries mixing truth and falsehood taking place the same day. Less publicized than the “I’m Still There” by Casey Affleck, “Catfish” happen probably hard to keep their heads above water. Nev Schulman is filming his every move in by his brother Ariel and his partner Henry Joost and he discovered to his cost that the information transmitted over the Internet – including Facebook – are not always truthful. Big discovery that almost everyone – except himself – knows.
It is this truism that is built a large part of the book. This does not lead to as much a reflection on this topic or a meditation on the means of communication. Instead, the authors remain on the surface, too focused on their subject. This is obviously a pity, especially given the promising introduction reminiscent of “My Kid Could Paint That” (where a young girl of eight claims to several exhibitions of her paintings).
After many detours and admittedly, quite a few passages on the comic art of leading people by boat, Nev decides to pay a surprise visit to his girlfriend. Although this decision came too late for the good of the test, in this final stretch that the story makes sense. The protagonist is initiated into the lives completely different from his, which includes a lot of loneliness, dreams left side and a desperate attempt to bring some happiness to her daily.
Whether “Catfish” is a documentary or fiction, the paths he takes, and especially the way he exploits his subjects will not surprise anyone who has ever conversed with a stranger or through a computer. When the emotion is finally at the very end, it is a bit late to change his look on this life lesson on love and friendship.
