There was some angst in
wondering if Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone was about to revisit the gritty
reality of his 2008 Canne Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner, Gomorrah,
with his latest Naples-centric film — appropriately titled — Reality.
After all, he had planned
on using the film’s star, Aniello Arena, a real-life Italian criminal (prison
record and all that goes with it) in Gomorrah, but apparently Italian
authorities nixed that idea, so Garrone turned around and cast him as the lead
in his next film, Reality — with that, you
had to figure that he found a way around the problem.
A great sigh of
relief. Yes, things are tough for
criminals in Naples, but we’ve been there and done that … and Garrone did it
very well. Reality is an entirely
different kettle of fish.
With Reality, due out on both DVD
and Blu-ray from Oscilloscope Laboratories on Aug. 13, we get a film that is Felliniesque in both style and subject
matter. Indeed, if you listen closely
you can almost hear the master say, “Non mi ricordo di questo film!” Pure Fellini!
The ARR is 151 days and
the box office take for the film’s limited arthouse run was $55,261.
Arena plays a Neapolitan
fishmonger named Luciano, who is obsessed (and that’s putting it mildly) with
an Italian television reality show called Grande Fratello (aka: Big
Brother). It doesn’t matter
that he is not selected for the show … the human mind is perfectly capable of
creating any reality that it wishes. And
Luciano does exactly that.
You could call Reality
a comedy; dark, to be sure. You could
call it a social drama; a mosaic of Italian culture as seen from an oddly
structured set of reference points.
Whichever side you come
down on, you will have to admit that Garrone’s Reality is a visual feast
… one viewing will simply not do.
Bonus features included a
newly-prepared video interview with director Matteo Garrone, a
behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Dreams Are My Reality,” a profile of the
actor/criminal Aniello Arena titled “Luciano” and deleted scenes.
To download this week's
complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report
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