Réalité (2014) Reviews

• Absurdities in abundance, dividing us in lovers and haters of this film, exactly like earlier movies of this film maker

  JvH482015-02-20

  I saw this film at the Film Fest Ghent 2014, where it was part of the official Competition. Previously, I saw Rubber of the same film maker at the Imagine film festival 2011 in Amsterdam. I wrote a positive review at the time, accepting the fact that I was a minority. Most others could not appreciate the absurd undertone and the almost absent narrative. Recalling my good memories in favor or Rubber, it may be possible that I had expected more of this successor. Nevertheless, it delivers an absurd story you'd expect from this film maker. Compared with Rubber there are less LOL (laughing out loud) moments, however. Instead, we can enjoy a humorous undertone all along the running time, while contradictions and absurdities come along in abundance. It is no use to condense the story in a few lines, not even several paragraphs won't do, still without any chance of getting the absurd message(s) across. Brace yourself, and let this movie come over you. It may change your view on film and film making. On the other hand, I sincerely hope that we do not have to take this backstage view on the film industry seriously. All in all, in spite of (or thanks to) all the controversies this film maker causes, I look forward to more products along the same line. His products are well made, and supported by good actors. That his narratives lack a logical story line, is more like a signature rather than a defect.

• David Lynch with humour

  theowlofthegame2016-11-22

  Yesterday I saw Réalité for the second time. And I found it even better than the first time. So I had to upgrade my rating from 9 to 10. Why? Well, because this film is... genius... funny... and a great trip altogether: The main story is about a guy (Jason) who has an idea for a film, but all he needs to get a contract signed, is the perfect (death)scream. He strains every nerve to obtain this sound. Then there is also the story of the producer who offers to sign this film, but who is also working on another film. This film, directed by cult director 'Zog', is very intriguing, compelling, a little bit artsy, and eventually the stories get mixed up with each other, and other stories. These other stories involving a cooking studio, a guy who likes dressing up like a woman, and a few more. Boy, did I had a good time watching this movie! The absurd dialogues, the details, the music, the plots mixing together. It had me glued in my chair like Jason. The acting is very good. The filming as well. I believe perhaps one would enjoy the movie more if you're bilingual (French-English) But all in all, one of the most sophisticated movies I've seen in a long time. If you like David Lynch, you will like Réalité

• A Satire Within a Satire

  rsj6242015-07-04

  --There Will Be Spoilers-- I've already seen a number of reviews and comments popping up that seem to not fully grip the hugely satirical natural of this film and seem to dock it points based on standards it just can't be held up to. Quentin Dupeiux, who has dictated other strange and surreal dark comedies such as Rubber and Wrong, knows his films are unique, and he knows what he's doing and he proves no differently with this film. The whole thing is one giant Hollywood satire. Anyone looking for coherency in the film is missing everything it's trying to poke fun at. For example it has countless plot twists that don't feel necessary, and this is where it takes a dig at the mainstream's need to have some sort of twist happen in every film to hold an audiences attention; this is contrasted by the ex-documentary director in the film desiring to hold shots of "boring scenes" for way longer than necessary. The film also takes a jab at Inception, at one point having us as viewers watch a movie of people watching a movie in a theater watching a girl watching a movie on TV. The future director of a film being pitched throughout the movie at one point walks into a theater, where his idea about a film where TV's destroy the minds of viewers is already being played in a local cineplex, and treated as if the audience is impossibly watching a movie that hasn't even come out yet. This in my opinion is poking fun at the current industry standard of repeating the same ideas over and over again to audiences willing to ingest the same tired story. At the same time it could be taking a jab at directors who think their ideas are so original that no one else could possibly come up with the same thing, only to find out that it's been done already.The whole picture is absurdly left mostly unresolved, and intentionally so, in order to convey a sense of everything we see either being a dream, or that we as viewers have been made stupid and confused by our own TV's beaming waves at our brain, much like the ones in the movie "Waves" within this film. It's all a big joke, any attempt to take it seriously will leave most frustrated and disappointed. It's a Quentin Dupeiux film, you've been warned.

• There is genius in this film. If you are bored with much of the formulaic output of Hollywood, but still have a passion for film, this might be for you.

  jeremy-starseed2016-03-18

  There is genius in this film. If you are bored with much of the formulaic output of Hollywood, but still have a passion for film, this might just be for you. Granted, it's not for everyone. I can only speak for myself. I still have chills from my first viewing. Only after it was over did I understand I had just watched the second film from the man behind Rubber. Glad I didn't even know, as expectations would have been quite high. Having grown up with rented video tapes in the 80's, this speaks to me on an intuitive level, using a language of cues, but remixed with a great deal of finesse and an engaging visual style, which had me grabbing frames here and there for inspiration in my architectural work. While shot with a keen eye for color, depth and composition, the film's strength lies in its mastery of the time domain. The storyline edits weave jaggedly into each other in a provocative manner and the art house ingredient, psychedelic in its simplicity, works its magic once it has taken hold of you. I see no room for improvement here, it is simply a great work. Where Rubber was a testament to the strength of the storytelling formula, this is the master wielding it just forcefully enough to grab people's attention. I suspect there's a lot more where this came from. As someone who lives with parts of stories, unfinished tracks slaved over in the recording studio, this ode to the behind- the-scenes heroics of unsung heroes was beyond captivating. Like an Ayahuasca trip, it is best described as liberating...like an itch, scratched at last. Bravo!

• One Heap of Contradictions

  pietjepuk932016-02-12

  This is an incredibly odd film that basically occupies itself with contradicting everything you might expect. From the narrative structure of the film itself, down to the smallest details. A little girl's name is Reality yet she experiences things that can't possibly happen like seeing a videotape come out of a boar's stomach or her mother reading her a bedtime story that exactly recounts what happened to her that day. A cooking show host wears a rat costume (hygiene?), a french speaking producer has an American name (Bob Marshall), a starting director pitches the worst idea for a movie ever and says it took him four years to come up with it and the producer likes it but focuses on a very small detail. The movie is build on these types of contradictions, leading to funny scenes (the smoking scene is hilarious), but often to just plain absurdity. Because the narrative structure of the movie itself is contradictory to what you as a viewer expect from a movie the whole thing stays enjoyable, literally anything can happen. In the end everything sort of works out and the story lines are tied in with each other in a way that makes sense. Not 'real' sense, but within the movie's logic (or lack thereof). I agree with another reviewer that one can't really compare this movie to anything else (maybe Dupieux earlier film Wrong), which makes grading it a tad difficult. On the whole I found it an incredibly amusing experience, though I can understand that other people might not. But if you are open minded about movies... Step into the world of Realité, in which secretaries are creepy, you can go into work and discover that you are already there and if you decline a cigarette because you don't smoke, you will get one forced on you.