Catfight

A weird and twisted character study of self absorbed, clueless narcissists ad nauseum.

I know, it's supposed to be a clever dark comedy, but having actually encountered more than a few examples of the very characters portrayed here in the real world, it was more like watching the equivalent of experiencing nails on a chalkboard.

I'm not knocking the film, or caliber of acting and direction, quite the contrary. As a film, it's actually a very well created production.

As a sort of snapshot into a world which really exists (well, sort of), perhaps it's a bit too realistic for comfort.

OK, the art gallery fight scene was more than a bit over the top.

Not to deliver any spoilers here, but perhaps an apt description could be summarized as a spectacular reversal of fortune story, mapped into a bizarre parallel universe of quirky characters and seemingly impossible scenarios which are actually all too real, depending upon which version of reality one might encounter at some seemingly random moment.

Not sure how to rate this, might not be for everyone, but it is definitely unique. A cautious seven stars . . .

This certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea but I quite enjoyed the sheer nihilistic futility of it all. Catfight is certainly original and takes on a narrative that keeps you guessing right to the end. There are some great digs at the pretentiousness of modern art and some gloriously violent fight scenes. You may hate it but it's definitely worth a try if you enjoy black comedy.

Man this movie is dark. Did I mention that? It is unrelentingly ugly, and brutal in its view of its characters. They're not nice people and they have a long long way to go to get any sense of redemption, and they're a portrayal of the American psyche. A brutal look at modern day America and its inability to see the wrong footed path and twisted self perception. We don't see many movies made along these lines in our sanitised-made-for-forgettable-entertainment-kicks media world. This film is brave to take that on.

It's certainly got its faults. The sound design and music is pretty unpleasant, or maybe that's the point. The fight scenes are brutal and at the same time comic book with their sound effect CD punch sounds and silly unrealistic choreography and duration. For me they watered down the movie and made it drag. The the unrelenting darkness of the story and almost lack of resolution or forward motion and lesson learned, but again, maybe that was intentional. It certainly doesn't leave a pleasant taste in the mouth and even though the actors do a great job it's had to say that cos you dislike the characters so much.

The good bit is the social satire and commentary going on here. It harks back to 60s and 70s social commentary cinema that we really need now more than every to give us insight into our present world. The near future the film portrays is one that has let itself slip into war, and the draft, and believing it's own propaganda, and the stupidity and uncaring nature of its health system.

It is a funny movie, in that there are comical details in it, but it's not played for laughs, and these aren't laugh out loud moments.

This most certainly is a good film, a brave film, a challenging film, an unrelentingly honest film. Did I enjoy it? I don't know, am I supposed to?

It made me think though.

I think it was Kapuscinski who wrote "war is but a series of revenges with an untraceable origin", then there´s Gandhi and his famous "eye for an eye and the world will go blind". Some might despise this film for being such an obvious allegory but it´s just too rich. It might lose some balance at times between its despicable characters and their meaning but nonetheless, it does work on both levels, personally and globally. A tight structure allows the film to expose its point with sharpness and confidence. It´s able to settle years of war debate in a 30 seconds piece of dialogue. It goes from social critique to symbolism to downright comedy in a matter of seconds, totally in control.

Comically, it works, oh yes. There´s something oddly funny about two people grudging obsessively over the years. I think "The Duellists" had a lot of unintentional humor. This one embraces the absurd concept. It ironically glorifies violence featuring ridiculous punch sound effects and it never gets too close to the character´s misfortunes. It´s a comedy, first of all.

Conceptually, it stays neutral, and that´s no joke. Aggresions and affronts are equaly terrible on both sides. That is extremely important not to lose its validity. One can argue that Catfight has a few missteps but it´s certainly not clumsy. Better than that, it´s absolutely hilarious.

'CATFIGHT': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An action-comedy written and directed by veteran indie filmmaker Onur Tukel. It stars Sandra Oh and Anne Heche as two women involved in a very bitter, and sometimes extremely violent, lifelong rivalry. The movie costars Alicia Silverstone, Amy Hill, Giullian Yao Gioiello, Craig Bierko and Dylan Baker. It had a limited release in indie theaters, and on video on demand, and now it's available to rent on video. It's a crazy film, but surprisingly insightful (in a really dark and twisted way).

Veronica Salt (Oh) and Ashley Miller (Heche) were friends in college, but they drifted apart over the years. Veronica is now a wealthy housewife, with a teenage son (Gioiello). Ashley is now a struggling artist, that's trying to conceive a child with her girlfriend (Silverstone). When the two meet at a party, after not seeing each other for several years, they immediately start judging and offending each other. Then the insults turn into a violent (and very bloody) brawl, that leaves the two in a bitter grudge match for many years to come.

The film is definitely funny, but in a really disturbing and gloomy way. It's also very violent, in a very shocking and unsettling way as well. The script is pretty clever though, and the two lead performances are both great in it. It's a hard movie to watch at times, and it doesn't leave you feeling very positive about things when it's over, but it is a very interesting and insightful film too. I would definitely still recommend it.

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