Reality (2012)
Directed by Matteo Garrone
A dark comedy centering on the lives of a Neapolitan based family whose father, a fish merchant, is so infatuated with the reality TV show "Grande Fratello" (the Italian version of "Big Brother") he starts living his life as if he were on it.
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What critics compared Reality to
Garrone, who made the excellent crime film Gomorrah (2008) as well as the not-so-good The Embalmer (2002), starts off well, with some powerfully resonant shots.
Garrone’s first film Gomorrah was an ambitious, fresco-sized crime drama.
At first, Luciano's confidence makes him a local celebrity, the neighborhood bartender (Ciro Petrone, "Gomorrah," "Love Is All You Need") even starting a fan club.
Strikingly different, in tone and theme, from Matteo Garrone's grim and fascinating gangster pic, Gomorrah, the director's Reality is a dark allegorical comedy about the nature of fame, about obsession, about madness - and the point where they converge: on Big Brother, a TV show watched by millions.
Italian director Matteo Garrone came to international attention with his 2008 film, "Gomorrah," which told brutal tales, based on reality, of the Camorra, a Mafia-like criminal enterprise.
His highly acclaimed 2008 film “Gomorrah” earned praise around the world and the follow-up, “Reality,” won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
Its lament for the spiritual void beneath what Jep calls the “blah blah blah” is a familiar one, particularly in Italian cinema, stretching from the heyday of Fellini and Antonioni right up to Matteo Garrone’s recent prickly comedy Reality, in which an ordinary man loses his sanity trying to become a Big Brother contestant.