sat 05/10/2024

Film: Catfish | reviews, news & interviews

Film: Catfish

Film: Catfish

Fascinating web-age documentary is a cautionary tale for social networkers

The 'Catfish' boys hit the road. Left to right: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost, Nev Schulman

Ever since Catfish appeared in the States earlier in the year, debate has been raging about its bona fides. On the face of it an ingenious documentary playing smartly with the potential and pitfalls of social networking and the nature of personal identity in the cyber age, the film has triggered cries of “foul” from a number of critics and viewers. Morgan Spurlock, who made the junk-food odyssey Super Size Me, has called Catfish “the best fake documentary I’ve ever seen”.

Ever since Catfish appeared in the States earlier in the year, debate has been raging about its bona fides. On the face of it an ingenious documentary playing smartly with the potential and pitfalls of social networking and the nature of personal identity in the cyber age, the film has triggered cries of “foul” from a number of critics and viewers. Morgan Spurlock, who made the junk-food odyssey Super Size Me, has called Catfish “the best fake documentary I’ve ever seen”.

What looked like an egregious exercise in vanity film-making turns mysterious, scary, then almost tragic

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