Rudie Reviews Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Catfish [Sundance 2010 Film Review]

Friendship and having a sense of connection is the one of the many things that makes us human.  Let’s face it, we ARE social animals.  We need to feel connected to something and a need to feel like you belong.  The internet has changed that.  We can now feel that same human connection all by yourself.  We can be alone in a room and still be connected to everyone in the world.  Social media networks like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter help us gain false human interaction.

To my knowledge, the documentary Catfish by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman is the first movie to tackle the issue of the phenomenon of Facebook drama.  Ok, I’m sure we’ve all been there, met someone on Facebook, get to know them, develop a crush, wonder if you should meet them or not, maybe it would ruin everything or maybe it will be the best thing that has ever happened to you.  Surprisingly enough, Catfish is accessible to both young and old.  The thought of a movie about the social network might not appeal to an older audience (hell my parents can only use email and Netflix on the internet).  But Catfish is different, the relationship between an artist and their muse is universal, not just the means of interaction.  What Catfish presents is art and truth.

This film is so touching, engaging, funny, heartbreaking, wonderful and at times cruel.  What was presented as one thing and quickly turned into another is the best way to describe the way the film plays as well as its subject matter.  In that way, it was a breathe of fresh air.  This was my favorite movie at Sundance 2010.  The only that had a clear enough narrative and relatable characters.  A haunting tale of the people we meet as stranger and slowly turning to friends.  A must see!!

Thanks to MakingOf.com for the following interview video, you can find more interviews here.