opinion | After many years, the drama “The Whale” is Brendan Fraser’s big comeback film – he even won an Oscar for his leading role. Our editor Michael Hille reveals why the film didn’t deserve its strong performance.
Hardly any other moment was talked about more in 2023 after the Oscars. Brendan Fraser picked up the golden boy in the category for his performance in “The Whale.” ‘Best Actor’ away. It was the brilliant comeback of an actor who once became the darling of the public in films like “The Mummy”, “Gods and Monsters” or “LA Crash”, but then avoided the limelight more and more. He later revealed it was because of the depression he got after being sexually molested in Hollywood.
With the Oscar for “The Whale” Fraser is now back on the big stage. The joy about it is great – especially since he was already back then an underrated actor was that has a lot to offer. Unfortunately, apart from him, one can hardly say anything positive about “The Whale”. The film adaptation of a play of the same name is no more or less than one of the biggest annoyances in cinema for a very long time.
The Story of an Eating Disorder: What “The Whale” is About
A24
Brendan Fraser won an Oscar for “The Whale.” He deserves it – the film doesn’t.
Brendan Fraser plays Charlie, an English professor in The Whale, who fell into depression and developed an eating disorder after the death of the lover he left his family for. He now only teaches from home without turning on his webcam – because nobody is supposed to look at him and he can no longer get up from his chair by himself. He weighs 272 kilograms. His only confidante, the nurse Liz (Oscar nominee for “The Whale”: Hong Chau), advises him to see a doctor. But Charlie gave up long ago, he doesn’t care about his health.
What he really seeks is redemption and forgiveness. He is severely estranged from his 17-year-old daughter Ellie (“Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink) and longs for a reconnection. He also meets door-to-door Adventist Thomas (ex-“Insidious” child star Ty Simpkins) on his doorstep, whose words touch him despite his own dislike of religion. So he got an idea: He offers Ellie $120,000 if she spends time with him, without telling her mother (“The Walking Dead” villain Samantha Morton). Ellie agrees on the condition that he helps her write an important school essay.
Despite great actors: Why “The Whale” so upset
You have to say straight away: “The Whale” gets a lot of international praise. Brendan Fraser is adored almost everywhere, as is the equally grandiose Hong Chau. Both show their best skillsFraser in particular is physically amazing, eventually wearing a sizeable fat suit and heavy makeup throughout the film (the makeup artists also received an Oscar for “The Whale”). Fraser grunting, screaming, sweating and howling is great physical spectacle and Hong Chau has also perfected the tormented look of pity. You don’t give them any praise. But you could have given them a better film.
Because “The Whale” is simple as a film about the mental and physical suffering of an eating disorder a fatal reach into the toilet. Director Darren Aronofsky approaches the extremely sensitive subject without a hint of subtlety or caution. His work isn’t really interested in the spiritual abysses of the Charlie character, instead, he films manipulatively on the main character’s body fat over and over againpermanently stages his obese appearance, his greasy fingers and sweaty T-shirts as well as his mass devouring of pizzas in distorted filmed images and almost feasts on physical suffering. Of course, if you want to approach the subject of morbid obesity, you must not omit all these aspects. But “The Whale” has nothing else to offer than voyeuristic exploitation of its main character and her appearance and to consciously rely on a disgust factor that doesn’t do justice to the film’s subject for a second.
Darren Aronofsky defends himself against criticism of fatshaming
A24
Hong Chau is a great actress, but is rarely allowed to do more than look pityingly in “The Whale”.
“The Whale” has only just been released in Germany, but it was launched in the USA last year and has already received criticism, including for being active “fat shaming”. Film critic Lindy West wrote in a column in the Guardians: “People respond positively to ‘The Whale’ because it validates their preconceptions about what fat people are like (gross, sad) and why fat people are fat (trauma, cravings), allowing them to feel benevolent and superior .It’s a fundamental dopamine hit that confirms the place of skinny people at the top of the social hierarchy.” Filmmaker Aronofsky himself argued in an interview with Yahoo! entertainment on the other hand: Charlie is “the first film protagonist with obesity who is not a cliché character, not a villain and not a joke figure”.
He may be right about that – and yet one has to ask what Aronofsky actually wanted to achieve with this film. A lot is touched upon, but never told: The attempts of the sect member Thomas to convert and heal the obese Charlie lead him to a quarrel with his own religious beliefs. Daughter Ellie is full of anger at a father who once left her and her mom and then “threw away” his life so much – to put it from her point of view. Physician’s assistant Liz knows that Charlie will not live long in his condition, but is reluctant to help him because she senses that he secretly wants to die. And Charlie? He is further shown consuming junk food in excess, mourning the loss of a loved one who has died, and when his life really seems to be about to end in the last few minutes, it even seems as if Aronofsky wanted to tell us that death might is best for this character. All of these kitchen psychology storylines don’t take away from the problem that Charlie’s exclusively negative portrayal doesn’t get a positive turnhe remains merely an object of observation.
Pure annoyance! “The Whale” is manipulative misery pornography
Darren Aronofsky has in the past two films with very similar themes filmed: “The Wrestler,” which also marked the comeback of a forgotten actor at the time (Mickey Rourke was Oscar-nominated), and “Black Swan,” in which Natalie Portman played a prima ballerina who pushes her obsession with a leading role to the limit . Both films also tell of people whose lives got out of control and only found their purpose and catharsis in self-sacrifice. A protest lay hidden in the fates of these characters, a rebellion against unfair social structures – and even if both films ended tragically, the main characters ultimately fought back their autonomy. They found their individual victory in defeat. So you didn’t just bathe in misery for two hours and leave the cinema only dismayedbut felt an unexpectedly optimistic sense of hope.
“The Whale”, on the other hand, is pure dismay cinema and as a film, a single heavyweight depressive assertion. Supposedly it’s about people and their tragic fates, but in truth they all only serve as a vehicle, as an extreme visual experience, were only generated to cheaply generate sympathy from the audience and bring the star in the center an Oscar. At least the latter succeeded. Otherwise, however, these melancholy 117 minutes a thoroughly depressive experience, in which pity is permanently confused with empathy. It doesn’t help much that Brendan Fraser has to repeat calendar sayings like “You should never give up believing in yourself”: “The Whale” is no human drama, but cynical misery pornographywhich pretends to be pregnant with meaning, but essentially has nothing to say.
“The Whale” is in German cinemas since April 27th to see.
*If you or someone you know suffers from an eating disorder or have questions on the subject, the advice line is the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) available to those affected and their families. under the phone number 0221 892031 You can reach an advisor Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
