‘The Whale’: Brendan Fraser dazzles in hugely uncomfortable plea against fatphobia and pessimism

The Renaissance has begun, or put another way, let’s hang on because the rebirth of Brendan Fraser with ‘The Whale’, the new film by Darren Aronofsky, shows that the actor still has a lot to offer. Remembered by all thanks to blockbusters such as ‘The Mummy (The Mummy)’ or ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’, and comedies for all audiences such as ‘George of the jungle’ or ‘Looney Tunes: back in action’, Fraser has resurrected from his ashes to bring us the role of his life, the role for which he will be remembered. But this rebirth is not easy, as the troubled trajectory that Fraser has undergone for many years is well known, including traumas such as depression, serious injuries, several operations, sexual harassment and a dramatic divorce. “My Mother Didn’t Raise a Hypocrite”, were the actor’s words when he announced that he would not attend the Golden Globes Gala due to his painful past with the industry. Gala in which, by the way, Austin Butler snatched the award for best actor in a drama for ‘Elvis’, although Fraser won it at the Critics Choice Awards.

However, any quarrels Fraser may have with Hollywood or with his own past seem to have taken a back seat after the rave reviews ‘The Whale’ is receiving on its tour at the Venice and Toronto film festivals. Around the world, the new Aronofsky has been praised time and time again; Which doesn’t happen that often. The North American director has made some of the films that have most polarized the public in recent years, making himself loved and massacred by both the public and critics.. The most obvious case is ‘Mother!’, that wild psychological thriller about motherhood, but it also had the opportunity to argue with films like ‘Requiem for a Dream’ or ‘The Source of Life’. Even so, he also had success with more commercial films, which had a presence in the award race and generated decent collections, such as ‘The Fighter’ or, of course, ‘Black Swan’.

In Aronofsky’s filmography we find similar patterns. Generally, the protagonist tends to get entangled in his own web of lies and traumas, to the point that those fears end up taking on an almost tangible form that drowns him. It is then that the surreal world begins to devour the real world and the distinction between the two universes blurs. In “The Whale,” while there isn’t a paranoid, invasive mental underworld like in “Pi, Faith in Chaos,” there is an underlying agony. In this case, it’s up to Charlie (Fraser), a literature professor who is morbidly obese to the point where he can barely move. His movement is reduced to a walker, a laptop and the small living room of his rented apartment. Members of his small circle of family, friends and acquaintances come and go there, without failing to underline the tremendous loneliness to which the gigantic professor finds himself condemned.

millimeter steps

‘The Whale’ is a film of enclosed spaces, dialogues and interpretations. Its theatrical nature derives from the play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter, an author who also edited the screenplay, adapting it to a feature film. Perhaps because he was the original author of the source material, the resulting script is tremendously tight, solid. The revelations follow organically, the twists and turns in the script seem natural and logical compared to the development of the characters themselves. Aronofsky takes his time to establish a story that takes place exclusively in one place (almost a sub-genre of its own, as ‘The Rope’, ‘A Wild God’ or ‘The Hateful Eight’, for example, demonstrate), and it gives the necessary importance to the spaces and the staging of the depressing apartment. The camera moves masterfully in the few meters where the action takes place, exploiting with extreme intelligence the depth of the shot and the position of each narrating agent.. The director measures his steps to the millimeter using beautifully written fonts.

Starting with Fraser himself, who thanks to his make-up and his prosthetic suit manages to create extremely uncomfortable moments, unpleasant to look at and ugly in its most conceptual sense. The character poetically corresponds to the physical and mental decline that the actor himself suffered some time ago, elevating the message and causing a sort of magical coincidence that only makes the role all the more memorable.. And it’s not alone. Sadie Sink, one of the icons of this new wave of Generation Z performers thanks to her role in ‘Stranger Things’, plays the electric and naughty Ellie, daughter of Charlie, whose permanent anger has a reason for being clear and understandable. the spectator will discover little by little; Hong Chau (who we recently saw as the chef’s relentless assistant in ‘The Menu’) is Liz, Charlie’s nurse and one of the professor’s few remaining friends, acts as a voice of conscience escaping the cliché that should be l ‘friendship worried about the protagonist’s health; and finally, Ty Simpkins (the famous boyfriend from “Iron Man 3” and “Insidious”) is a young missionary who goes door to door preaching the word of the gospel and trying to save the souls of everyone he meets on the street.

Corset in a square format, “La ballena” exudes classicism on all four sides. It’s pure, hard melodrama, with very little room (literally and figuratively) for anything but self-blame, regrets, and stabbings from the past.. However, there is also a powerful argument against, of course, fat phobia (with many examples of how people with obesity are prejudiced and discriminated against) and existential pessimism. The director masterfully combines his specific formal aspect with a valuable subtext that emerges as the plot progresses, until it reaches a final climax far more epic than one can claim.

Dodge the word of the Lord

“The Whale” revolves around redemption and second chances. Charlie misbehaved with his family and neglected the relationship he had with her daughter, until she suddenly returns and the past explodes in his face. The need to reconcile with his daughter before what could be his last days pushes an (already) very good person to believe even more in the goodness of people. A faith in humanity that seems unshakeable (and so reminiscent of the stoicism displayed by a character like Peter Parker/Spider-Man in his comics) will face its toughest challenge: trying to reconcile with your daughter. However, the greatest value is found not so much in its theme or conclusion, but in its progress, using literature as the central axis (emphasising books such as Moby Dick and The Bible for obvious reasons) on which the entire subtext of the film revolves.

And it is that, despite the importance of the Catechism, Aronofsky tiptoes on a sensitive topic like religion; it is more contained. It’s been a recurring theme in his work, whether it’s something as radical as ‘Mother!’ or something more commercial like ‘Noah’, but the director expounds it enough so that it has the necessary importance in the story without devouring the general discourse or falling into empty Manichaeism.

We must not fail to point out the occasional cruelty exerted on the viewer by Aronofsky’s film. Without being deceptive, as he shows his cards very well from the start and plays them wisely, “The Whale” sins at times like a tear gas, something inherent in the genre whose limit is so subtle that it can surface with the maximum of the structures. It’s something like this emotional pornography that plays with the viewer’s heart and twists his senses until he makes him cry uncontrollably. And it succeeds, of course. At least for the writer.

Note: 8.

The best: Brendan Fraser will be remembered for it. Darren Aronofsky’s dirty staging and use of space. All interpretations.

Worse: The thunderous melodramatic sentimentality that can drown out its gargantuan scale.