Catfish

[soonforgotten]

Unsure as to how 'real' it all was [spoiler]and found the confrontational part with Angela et al a bit disturbing. How could the 2 'boys' give consent to being filmed?[/spoiler]

The parents, in this case Vince, would have to give consent.

The more I think about this, the harder to believe it's all fake. That would require a bunch of non-actors to give the performances of their lives. And to continue to do so throughout the promotion of the story. The 20/20 story supposedly has interviews with Angela and [spoiler]the woman whose photos she used for "Megan"[/spoiler]. I'll try to find the video for this later (the ABC news site can't show this outside of the US), but for now I'm sticking to my belief that it's legit.

[superhero]

I don't doubt it's not legit per se, but I am just wondering how much of it is embellished and added onto. You also can't help wonder how much the people are playing up to the cameras when it's being aimed at them. Thats when the boundary between documentary and fictional movie becomes blurred.

[elski]

An 8 year old doing paintings that sell for lots of money?? Wonder where they got that idea from.....hmmm

"My Kid could paint that"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0912592/

Well it's a 4 yrs old in that doc

Still it's a good way to start a film...

but then that could be what gave Angela the idea....

if you missed out asking at the Q&A you could always ask Nev directly
http://twitter.com/NevSchulman

I hope it's not proved either way whether it's real or faked as it's relevant to what the film is about in what things to take at face value or not and makes it all the more interesting not knowing for certain.

I found a telegraph article about Catfish that mentions that Nev had a girlfriend when he first started talking to 'Megan' (adding to the 'fake' theory) but then she dumped him over it so that adds to the 'real' theory!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... -film.html

[LucindaG]

hmmm... not sure what to do.

I got complementary tickets to see something else... either Catfish when it's released (I can't make Thursday assuming it goes ahead!) or something else.... do I stick with Catfish or go watch Burlesque?!!

Hmm... in all honesty while it was quite good I'd not choose it over many movies... Documentaries can sometimes feel 'unsatisfying' to me... I'd go with burlesque : )

[superhero]

For anyone who didn't go to the Q&A, Nev has maxed out on his facebook friends- 5000!
even though on the film it said he's got 732ish friends.

He's maxed out on the pending too 1000 pending friends!

[elski]

Well I turned up at 6:25pm and there was a guy ahead of me p*ying to a ticket for the screening and then inside the screen there were only two people sat down waiting so in total there were probably about a dozen or so people there.

Then at the end we missed the start of the Q&A and when they did get it up onscreen there was a problem with the sound, loads of echo. They tried their best to get rid of it but all in vain. There was someone sat in the audience with a laptop and they had managed to get the Q&A up without the echo problem so I think a bunch of people left to go and view it on there at the bar. I sat through quite a few questions but it became too difficult to concentrate so gave up. Lovefilm are saying they'll get it up online by the end of the week so hope to catch up with it then.

I really enjoyed it. I believe it's real but if it's fake, like soonforgotten I'd give it extra points for making such a good job of faking it. If fake they made a good job of not making what they discovered too 'sensational'. I have to admit some of the tag lines about it being a "reality thriller" had me expecting something far more sinister than it turned out to be, especially turning up at a remote farm in the middle of the night!

Of course when you stick a camera in front of people they are going to behave slightly differently and unless you have a hidden camera on them the entire time you & hope they don't realise they're being filmed you're never going to get anything different. I liked the way they had the narrative play like a real film rather than normal documentary style with narrator & interviews etc.

Also it would make Angela and amazing actress if fake, I thought it was really poignant & touching when she was [spoiler]drawing Nev. I thought it showed how they had developed a real connection when she'd been Megan and he had fallen for a little bit of Angela without knowing it but as he'd said earlier in the film he'd have to find her attractive on meeting her for it to become an instant relationship. I found that sad for her and I thought it was missing an opportunity to ask Nev at that point how he felt about her.[/spoiler]


9/10

[superhero]

Oooo....What's the upcoming court case about?

Went to the screening at the Prince Charles Cinema last night-- there as a good (70% maybe?) turnout, possibly because it was where the Q&A was taking place physically.
There were quite a few laughs and a nice energy... like the french, we all clapped at the end : )
I knew the plot twist so it wasn't as gripping for me as it should have been. Also I'm cynical about its authenticity (although an upcoming court case will reveal all : )
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. Nev is pretty to look at, which helps ; ) it gets quite moving at the end, and it is put together in a nicely paced way.
7/10

[elski]

it's because of one of the songs used in it

http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/catfish-legal-battle/

[superhero]

Someone could almost do another "doc" about the film to "potentially" expose it as a fraud and film the court case etc..
Thats an idea!

[elski]

so are you saying you don't believe the story is real at all or just that they recreated scenes?
Touching the Void is mostly re-enactment and that's still considered a doc.