Reality is a 2012 Italian film directed by Matteo Garrone. It follows the story of a fishmonger named Luciano, a man who wants nothing more than to be on Big Brother. After he auditions, he believes that the judges love him and that he will most definitely be on the upcoming season, so he alters his lifestyle as if he is already being judged. For Luciano, the lines between reality and Reality TV have become blurred, much to the dismay of his family and friends.
The film won the Grand Prix in the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and garnered a lot of interest due to the casting of Aniello Arena, who was serving a life sentence in prison during the filming.
This work features examples of:
- Big Brother Is Watching: Luciano believes this, even outside of the Big Brother house.
- Coolest Club Ever: Where Luciano goes to see Enzo.
- Heaven Seeker: Parallels are drawn between Heaven and the Big Brother house for Luciano, to the point where he begins giving away his belongings and doing everything in his power to be the best person he can.
- Holy City: Luciano makes a pilgrimage to Rome and attends a huge church service.
- Laughing Mad: The film ends with this, courtesy of Luciano.
- Messianic Archetype: Enzo is this for Luciano and the audience. There's even a sequence in which Enzo is suspended over a crowd with lighting suggestive of artistic depictions of Christ's Transfiguration, with his arms spread as if he is being crucified.
- Ominous Music Box Tune: It is an Alexandre Desplat score.
- Sanity Slippage: Luciano grows increasingly more unstable throughout the film.
- Stalker without a Crush: Luciano stalks Enzo throughout the film, to the point of sneaking into his private bathroom at an event through the air vents. Luciano doesn't mean Enzo any harm, but it doesn't stop Enzo from calling security.
- White Stallion: The film opens on a carriage being drawn by a pair of white horses.
