Xixax Film Forum

This is Nathan Fielder doing his thing, it starts tonight.

It's so good to have Nathan back on the TV. This has so much Nathan For You DNA that it kind of just feels like the new season.

The premise definitely has potential. My favorite aspect was the rehearsal actors – they take the job seriously, closely studying their real-life counterparts. It's impressive seeing them employ their fully-developed character in improvisational conversation.

I know someone who used to work with young adults who have trouble transitioning into post high-school life, most of them being on the autism spectrum. One of the main things they do is rehearse social interactions. They train students to write scripts for important phone calls. Really not that different from this show.

So I guess I'm saying at least some of Nathan's methods are already accepted practice & proven methods in the real world. And I would be shocked if the subject of episode 1 is not on the spectrum. It's arguably in bad taste that they don't acknowledge it, and that Nathan pantomimes autism to some degree, but it still works.

Oh man, the TENSION.


 I loved how it communicated how high the 'personal' stakes were for the person rehearsing, even if their secret - to me - seemed way more low stakes than he felt. Also, I'll probably never tire of watching the subjects see locations from their life rendered as sets. Looking forward to that.

I wasn't sure how I was vibing with this for the first 10-15 minutes, but god I'm glad I stuck with it. It feels like Fielder really used Finding Frances as an evolutionary turning point in his work, shifting the target of his absurdity from the satirical to the deeply personal, and this is the culmination of that journey. There will always be ethical concerns around using real people in the way that he does, but I feel like the participants in this one aren't the butt of the joke in the way that the participants in Nathan For You often were. The joke is on the "Nathan" character's entire thesis, the idea that the messiness of life can be overcome with enough preparation. It's a deeply sad premise, and this show leans hard into that in a way that Nathan For You only ever hinted at until the end. I can't wait to see where it goes.

Ten minutes in, I want to say that I would be more upset as a friend about being used in a weird, manipulative way for a television show than about what seems like an innocent lie. Well, I wouldn't believe the lie was innocent if I had also been used for a television show. (This is about the fake interview with the actress.)

Okay, I'm going back in.  :yabbse-grin:

I wish Nathan Fielder would let the situations in The Rehearsal breathe instead of trying to do Bits about the Meaning of the Bits for His Fake Personality. I've laughed a lot, but I've found this second episode very frustrating. It hasn't been for a second about this woman and motherhood. Even if they acknowledge that she may not care and just be in it for the dream house. (That said, I suppose that being alone with a kid is radically different from her day to day life. We just see the woman holding the kids.)

Last week was better in that regard, but there was still too much narrative about his FEELINGS, and I suppose it is willingly off, but it is heavy handed in a way Nathan For You wasn't because the parts in The Rehearsal are sophisticated in a way the previous show wasn't.

To be fair, I thought: "You obviously don't care about the people doing this crazy, elaborate rehearsal, we're barely seeing anything about it, why don't you participate?" and he did, so next week will be way better. I was not a fan of the personal stuff in Finding Frances—I could have done without it—but he was participating, he was "dating" a real call-girl. To be a witness is interesting, but I'd like to witness this stuff with him a little bit more.

And:

https://twitter.com/Sall_Gud/status/1550686285936750592

https://twitter.com/Sall_Gud/status/1474937868543873026/photo/1

Isn't the point he's making is that the designer and simulator cannot help but be complicit and enter their simulations/creations?

I would say the important thing is to recognize that the Nathan Fielder character (a figure notably distinct from Nathan Fielder, the real person) IS the main character of the show. In the process of putting on these rehearsals for other people to try and control the things they have no control over, the show is actually telling the story of Nathan's ill-fated attempt to try and control the things he has no control over. It's not a documentary or a reality show, it's a fictional narrative that skillfully incorporates real people into the narrative (with seemingly varying degrees of awareness). The show barely focused on Angela's attempts at motherhood simply because it's ancillary to the story that Fielder is actually telling.

So is there going go be a part 2, or what?

The next episode appears to be a continuation of the child-rearing storyline, yes.

Quote from: polkablues on July 24, 2022, 12:35:48 AMI would say the important thing is to recognize that the Nathan Fielder character (a figure notably distinct from Nathan Fielder, the real person) IS the main character of the show. In the process of putting on these rehearsals for other people to try and control the things they have no control over, the show is actually telling the story of Nathan's ill-fated attempt to try and control the things he has no control over. It's not a documentary or a reality show, it's a fictional narrative that skillfully incorporates real people into the narrative (with seemingly varying degrees of awareness). The show barely focused on Angela's attempts at motherhood simply because it's ancillary to the story that Fielder is actually telling.

Yep, which is why I found the episode frustrating: I'm not sure there has been a great balance between the real events and the fact that it is obviously a heavily scripted narrative and everything has to follow its logic. But it was basically setting up the story/premise of the rehearsal for the next episode (or the rest of the season?), and I'm sure he has many tricks up his sleeves. This episode taught me that the show wouldn't follow a clear « case of the week » structure. For now, he hasn't been failing enough to control what's happening in these episodes as we see them even if he pretends to be failing to control things.

Maybe the difference with Nathan For You, which is as much fiction in my opinion, is between engineering (The Rehearsal) and reverse engineering (Nathan For You). (But that's never as clear as that with Fielder, he often knew what he wanted in Nathan For You too.)

These tweets are priceless:

https://twitter.com/ayla_byla/status/1550688711150424066?s=20&t=05WiEM3GV6yBXAo-lqzv9A

https://twitter.com/limitlessjest/status/1551055651110940673

I would watch a season-long behind the scenes documentary just about the casting process for this show.

Quote from: polkablues on July 24, 2022, 12:20:32 PMI would watch a season-long behind the scenes documentary just about the casting process for this show.

They must have given that woman a custom-made dating app filled with pre-selected guys. Their criteria was "Christian dudes who are definitely wrong for her."

There seems to be a rising trend of people on the internet smugly asserting that everyone on the show is an actor and totally in on it, and it's infuriating to me on a level I can't even articulate.

Quote from: polkablues on July 25, 2022, 12:19:05 AMThere seems to be a rising trend of people on the internet smugly asserting that everyone on the show is an actor and totally in on it, and it's infuriating to me on a level I can't even articulate.

Interesting, considering the lack of NDAs and the number of participants who are always revealed afterwards. Just from one Nathan for You episode, for example, you have Jack Garbarino and Austin Bowers - two very real certified weirdos. Other episodes like "The Hero" have a bit more artifice, like the love interest who was cast. She understood she was speaking to someone in a mask, and rolled with it because she was on a TV show, but she still didn't really understand what was going on.

It's really weird. It's like people don't want to take the chance that they're being fooled, so they jump out ahead of it and act like it's obviously all fake and they caught on right away. Despite the fact that it's so easily disprovable with even the tiniest bit of effort.

This may be constructed as a spoiler re: Robin's future involvement in the series, even if I feel like this is post Rehearsal stuff.

This is easily the funniest possible result of those two meeting.

The new episode devastated me. Brilliant stuff

Yeah, that was the best episode yet. Equally twisted and humane. And once again the stand-in actors do not disappoint; the brother and the grandpa were both so good.

The series found its groove and is just flying, now. This is twisted in an awe-inspiring way sometimes, and the episodic rehearsal of the week, its success and/or failure was unexpected and moving.

I feel so blessed to have this show. And somehow this episode took it a whole new level. Absolutely stunning.

Spoilers

We always knew this was going to go full Adaptation. And of course Nathan zeroed in on the most reluctant participant.

I don't even know what to say about the teenage son storyline. It was perfection, equally funny and moving, often simultaneously.

That this show even works a little bit defies all odds. That it turned out this sublimely brilliant is a minor miracle. There's nothing I can say about this show that doesn't sound like hyperbole.

Live your life without letting Nathan Fielder use your weapons.

Yeah, this is all-time stuff. A reflective auto-critique that mocks the idea of self-critique and deconstructs the vague perception and manipulation perpetrated by social anxiety. The moments with the contract and overwhelming awareness and influence of the HBO cameras brought me back to Nathan For You

Will Lana Del Rey be involved in The Rehearsal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sADylcJs3I

https://twitter.com/AntifaDiPalma/status/1558324221373304832

Hahahahahaha.

Okay, it must not have been that difficult to find a Miriam, but it is deviously set up for a perfect ending.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRehearsal1stdraft/

There is now a subreddit for "rehearsing" posts you might make on the main The Rehearsal subreddit.

https://twitter.com/hbo/status/1560672949610299393

Disappointing.

Feels like a missed opportunity and repetitive

Had the renewal not been announced today, I think I would have agreed with you. It definitely felt like we were waiting for that final leap into the next level of absurdity/surrealism/profundity/whatever, and the episode never quite got fully off the ground. But knowing that it's returning, I don't mind that they held back. If season two doesn't go full balls-to-the-wall Synecdoche, I might be a bit disappointed, but Nathan Fielder hasn't let me down yet and I don't think he has any intention of doing so.

I liked the finale, it was one of my favorite episodes. Maybe because I never fully loved The Rehearsal.

I think there's a form of self-pity in everything about "Nathan" that I don't like. It was already present in Finding Frances, but the call-girl was a more interesting person than all the actors on The Rehearsal who, once again, only exist to feed the pre-conceived self-pity narrative around "Nathan".

I dig the absurdity/surrealism, but it was ultimately quite hollow emotionally, in my opinion.

Also, all the reflection about manipulating participants feels more fucked to me than what he was doing in Nathan for You. (Once again: hollow. He doesn't give a shit.)

This is about the season as a whole, because I think this episode culminated to a great scene.

I think it'd be pretty funny if this show were able to land the 'rehearsal actors' nominations for their performances of rehearsed moments. Fake Angela and the kids who played Fake-Adam-Becoming-Fake-Remmy both seemed to put out strong performances under the 'Fielder Method' lol

The child actor in the last episode was probably rehearsing in the womb.  :yabbse-grin:

A few updates on Remy here: https://twitter.com/girlTaylor/status/1548161014247485445?s=20&t=VbdimZwXd7P4hjHiKZwIng

Here is the spin-off:

I started a rewatch, and I have to say I don't find the finale any more problematic than episode 1. At least in the finale, Nathan tackles the crisis head-on with urgent empathy, enough that it even pushes him a bit out of character. And yes, Remy's apparent grandma is currently on social media praising Nathan and assuring people that things are fine.

Side note – if it struck you that Remy's mom was less weirded out than most other participants, apparently she and her mother were already Nathan Fielder fans.

I liked the finale quite a bit. I didn't really expect things to be taken to a whole new mindblowing conceptual level. As the previous episode wrapped up, it seemed clear that the parenthood rehearsal was on the brink of a full collapse. It felt like the main thing left to do was deconstruct it, and that's exactly what happened in the finale.

What I really appreciate about this show is the way it fully embraces improvisation. Nathan & co. are willing to scrap everything in pursuit of whatever opportunity will produce the most interesting and demented result. The production being so manipulative sort of counterintuitively opens them up to following the human element wherever it leads. Angela's cynical ambivalence, Nathan's student's reluctance to participate, and Remy's dad crisis... well, they all shaped the show in overwhelming ways. At the very least, their real human reactions to this ridiculous production inspired some of the biggest turns.

I also love that, when they find an especially great rehearsal actor (fake Angela and teen Adam especially), they're more than happy to move the spotlight and let these actors drive the narrative.

To a certain extent, I feel like the question of how much of the show is "real" versus "staged" is beside the point, but at the same time I'm so curious what story points throughout the season were pre-planned and which ones were the result of reacting to events as they unfolded. Ultimately, the difference is irrelevant to the final product that we see on screen, and maybe knowing the answer would ruin the magic, but I still would love to know just on a logistical level how they went about it.

To me it seems obvious that the shape of the season shifted dramatically based on what they were (or weren't!) getting from the participants. And some of those things, like Remy's dad crisis, are clear human reactions that can't be manufactured. What's manufactured is what the show does with that, which is quite transparent.

I have no doubt that they fed lines to many participants, especially during rehearsal scenes (there's some info out there about this). But, for example, it's not like they picked out one of Nathan's Fielder Method students and said "okay you're playing the reluctant student and we're going to make a whole story out of that." There's just no reason to pre-script to that degree when you have insanely talented producers who can more easily juice content from human moments.

It's not even clear to me what people mean when they say the show is fake. I think some people genuinely (as below?) still think "they're all actors" when 10 min of research or any familiarity with Nathan's previous work would disabuse you of that notion.

https://twitter.com/lindaholmes/status/1561347713270255616