Italian Film Festival - Reality

The Studio Italia | Italian Film Festival NZ warmly invites you to the screening of drama-comedy film 'Reality' by Matteo Garrone.

After winning acclaim with his crime film Gomorra, Director Matteo Garrone seemed to want to prove that he was a real force in contemporary Italian Cinema. This year we have programmed two Garrone films; Reality and the recent Pinocchio. These films couldn’t be more different from each other and yet improbably both share his distinctive style.

Reality is the story of a humble but charismatic Neapolitan fishmonger called Luciano that participates in the ‘Big Brother’ reality TV show, and soon becomes obsessed with the world of manufactured celebrity.

The script was inspired by a true story, and lead actor, Aniello Arena, was discovered by Matteo Garrone when he went to a play staged by inmates of the notorious Volterra prison. Garrone never makes fun of the working class Neapolitans drawn into the hollow spectacle of show business, yet his enormously entertaining film is a brilliant critique. I imagine Garrone is lamenting the trashy commercialisation of Italian television and its effect on Italian society.

For us, the audience, it is a colourful riot of fun. The visual flair, flamboyance and sheer spectacle remind me of the influence of Fellini. Although the cheapening of culture is a worldwide phenomenon, setting this film in Napoli's particular culture elevates the aesthetic and thematic levels to create an unmissable film.