Since its premiere on the 2022 Venice Movie Competition, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale has earned quite a lot of acclaim, but it surely’s additionally been the topic of a whole lot of controversy. Some have {accused} the film of being fatphobic in its storytelling, and the casting of Brendan Fraser within the lead position has obtained criticism due to the prosthetics and make-up that he required for the half. The characteristic is now up for a number of Academy Awards – together with Finest Actor and Finest Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyling – however the filmmakers are nonetheless being put within the place of defending key decisions that had been made early in manufacturing.
The Hollywood Reporter lately spoke with The Whale producer Jeremy Dawson, and the interview touched on the sophisticated discourse surrounding the movie. In response to critiques that the film perpetuates stereotypes concerning the overweight, the filmmaker stated that the purpose was to indicate the humanity in Brendan Fraser’s character, and he additionally spoke to the intentions with which the story was initially written. In response to Dawson,
The important thing factor for us was to indicate anyone who was only a human who had issues he was coping with, that we might need to have empathy and love for him on the identical time, as [well as] understanding, empathy and love for all these different characters he’s interacting with. [Screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter] had extrapolated out from a few of his personal private experiences and sort of took it from there. We simply need to be trustworthy and truthful.
Primarily based on the play of the identical identify by Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale stars Brendan Fraser as Charlie – a 600 pound man who’s slowly dying from congestive coronary heart failure. Within the closing days of his life, he makes an attempt to reconnect together with his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink) by providing to assist together with her college work so stop her from flunking out.
Brendan Fraser has beforehand defended his position in The Whale, describing himself as “not a small man” and refusing to confer with the prosthetics and costuming he wore as a “fats go well with.” Within the latest commerce interview, Jeremy Dawson defined that there was an extended seek for an actor to play the position of Charlie, and Fraser finally received the half as a result of he was the one that was going to do one of the best job and accomplish that respectfully. Stated Dawson,
Darren [Aronofsky] thought of all people, and over completely different phases of the movie, completely different folks and concepts had been checked out. Finally, he simply needed to search out one of the best one that’s going to do that and do it in a respectful method. You’re all the time going to have completely different reactions to all the things.
Whether or not or not the controversy surrounding The Whale will find yourself impacting its probabilities on the Oscars is unclear. Brendan Fraser has already received a number of trophies for his work in the previous couple of months, together with the Critics Selection award for Finest Actor. Along with Fraser, Hong Chao has additionally been nominated for Finest Supporting Actress.
Try our rundown of the 2023 Academy Award nominations to find the competitors that The Whale faces within the three classes wherein it’s nominated, and our 2023 Oscars streaming information will fill you in on find out how to watch the movie earlier than the ceremony. The present will likely be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 12, an keep tuned right here on CinemaBlend for extra awards season protection.
