FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 9, 2019

It's 2019. Why is it that there's more money for research, more intense scientific study and scrutiny, and a greater public demand for health knowledge and veracity in claims than ever before, yet the world is fatter and unhealthier than ever before? Fat points out a number of reasons, including poor science and the big money that's at stake for keeping people fat. The health industry, it seems, is actually in the business of preventing health rather than pursuing it, of making money rather than improving and extending lives, "caring" for health after the fact rather than fighting in the arena of preventive medicine, i.e. a sound, healthy diet. Though the presentation is a little dry and too "facts-and-figures" oriented, the filmmakers of and participants in FAT are unquestionably passionate about revealing the truth behind how the right and wrong foods impact the body and health well beyond the superficial, studying the history of health through the 20th century and the needless suffering brought about by incorrect assumptions and deliberate trickery in the pursuit of money.

FAT: A Documentary features Vinnie Tortorich and a number of interviewees introducing audiences to a number of the “health myths” and the history of various diets, beginning with Ellen White’s spiritually directed vegetarian diet and Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s Inuit fatty all-meat diets. The film explores myths surrounding saturated fats, lies in advertising, food’s impact on health beyond clothing size and weight, media and government’s impact on the veracity of health claims and it steerage of the food narrative, Ancel Keys’ studies of saturated fats and cholesterol, the “profitability” of diseases like diabetes, the benefits of a proper diet on brain health, and the modern explosion of obesity and diabetes in the 1980s forward.

One of the areas of interest in the film, and in the broader spectrum of public health, is the distinction between "skinny fat people" and "fat skinny people." The film doesn't necessarily use this terminology, but it does hit on the health benefits of a good diet beyond the waistline. It's possible to be healthy and not sport a beach body, and it's also possible to fit into those "skinny jeans" yet lack good internal health. So many people corollate health with clothing sizes but there's so much more to it than slipping into that pair of jeans that's the next size down. There's certainly some truth to the crude connection between body mass and shape and health -- less weight certainly means fewer problems, if only considering things like joint health -- but size and shape and numbers on scales and clothing tags are not the end-all, be-all of health barometers.

No, it's a complex mechanism of interconnectedness that is much more dependent on the types of food one eats rather than the quantities, more reliant on the makeup of the food -- natural versus processed -- rather than its place on the "food pyramid." It's amazing to consider how ideas and perceptions have evolved and to consider how much of an influence money has become in the pursuit of maintaining a dependence on fixing problems after they have occurred rather than before they begin and how food storage and preservation processes have hindered rather than helped nutritional content. FAT works so hard to cram in a ton of information about the history of food and the science of its study, at least from the early 20th century forward, that it grows a little convoluted. But the takeaway is simple: healthy fats are good, processed foods and sugars are bad. There's a promotion of the ketogenic diet (including the story of how it helped save a young boy named Charlie from a life of seizures) as not just a weight loss tool but also as a lifestyle change with a number of benefits beyond, again, shrinking the waistline. It's a fascinating if not a bit too fast and statistically and verbally and historically overwhelming presentation; Fed Up is a similar film that plays with more approachable balance.

FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

FAT: A Documentary was shot on digital and it was certainly not made with pristine visuals in mind. The video is a tool in telling the story. It is in no way the focal point, and the Blu-ray presentation reflects that. Gravitas Ventures has dropped the movie onto a 25GB BD-R disc which handles essential duties well enough. Basic interview clarity and color are fine. Much of the film is comprised of static shots showing various individuals who are sharing some wisdom about the world of food and health as it is known and understood today. There are some vintage clips interspersed throughout which of course are of varying visual qualities based on various standard definition sources or film from yesteryear that is invariably in some state of disrepair. The transfer is by no means of reference quality but it's certainly capable within the film's meager needs for it.

FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

FAT: A Documentary serves up a lean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Gravitas Ventures and the film's sound designers have trimmed almost all of the fat, leaving the presentation front-heavy and focused on conveying the sonic essentials. Baseline clarity its fine. There's certainly not much in terms of vigorous musical engagement, low end power, or massive surround integration. Quite the contrary. The track's front-heavy essentials present with modest engagement but enough to support the material. There's no real back end fold and no opportunity to integrate anything resembling an environment. The static interviews and the speech that emanates from them comprise the bulk of the track, and the spoken word is intelligible and always positioned in the front-center channel.

FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

FAT: A Documentary's Blu-ray release contains only a Trailer (1080p, 2:16). No DVD or digital copies are included. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

FAT: A Documentary Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is unquestionably a health crisis in much of the world, but is there a crisis of conscience? In some circles, yes, and it seems that good information about what to eat and why is finally seeping into the public conscience, despite the best efforts of various industries to keep people fat and unhealthy because it's in obesity and all of the medical problems that are a result of it where the money is to be made. FAT: A Documentary takes a look through the history of health and the misleading information (deliberately misleading and unintentionally misleading) that was, and remains, so rampant in popular culture. The film does a good job of linking a truly healthy diet -- not what various governmental and industrial studies claim -- with so many health benefits beyond simply dropping unsightly weight. The Blu-ray presentation is nothing special in terms of its video and audio output and there's only a trailer in the supplemental section, but the strength of this release is in the content, not the presentation. Recommended.