RealityThere's a quote by an ancient Chinese philosopher named Zhuangzi, which roughly translates as: "I dreamt I was a butterfly...not knowing it was [me]...I awoke, and came to myself...I do not know whether it was then I dreamt I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man." Such is the paradox and disintegration of any sense of reality or the fluidity of identity that comes with dreams; logic takes a back seat, if it's invited for the ride at all. For the characters in Quentin Dupieux's mind-bending, absurd comedy about consciousness and movies--called Reality--nothing is certain, even who they are or if they even exist.
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Reality is a surreal jaunt into a weird world of strange characters caught in a series of seemingly disconnected events. Effectively, it is a vignette-style film, although this carries a key caveat. By the end, it becomes impossible to say with any sense of absolute assurance that any one character or perspective is, in fact, authentic..."real" as we know it. The story begins with a father hunting a wild boar, which his daughter--ominously named "Reality" (Kyla Kenedy)--observes contains a sky blue VHS cassette tape in its innards, visible after her father guts it. What mysteries lurk upon that bloody record? Elsewhere, a cooking show host named Denis (Jon Heder) with a psychosomatic case of eczema, and wearing a full-body rat costume, interviews a guest as they prepare a dish. And the cameraman for camera three is Jason Tantra (Alain Chabat), a budding filmmaker who approaches his former boss, the neurotic Bob Marshal (Jonathan Lambert) to get his film produced. His film is to be a laughable sci-fi/horror flick about television sets which make people stupid, then fry their insides until they explode. Bob agrees to finance on one condition: he finds a groan to exemplify the pain the victims experience, one worthy of an Oscar. Of course, this leads to Jason tape recording himself, conjuring up ridiculous screams for hours by himself in his car, as well as trying to capture the perfect grunt or moan at a gym or when a colleague drops a desk on his foot. It's a bit like John Travolta in Blow Out...only far more demented. There is also a "genius" filmmaker named "Zog" (John Glover), who tests Bob's patience with his obsession with capturing reality as the girl, Reality, is trying to sleep, and Reality's superintendent, Henri (Eric Wareheim) conceals a secret desire to ride around in a Jeep in women's clothing...at least he dreams about it.
So what do all of these seemingly unrelated stories have in common? Periodically, one character's story may intersect with another's, but some of the events in the film are later revealed to have been a dream. But if that's the case--and some of the events we see are dreams--then how can that justify the other characters witnessing of the events, unless they were a part of the dream, too? Quentin Dupieux's film intentionally subverts continuity, and creates a paradox of identity and reality by making dreams indistinguishable from reality, considering any semblance of reality in this film is already wholly weird. Dupeiux's work has always erred on the side of the bizarre and self-aware--such as his film, Rubber--but Reality is, for all its strangeness, a surprisingly philosophical meditation on reality and dreams. You may ask yourself, "which one of these scenarios is the real one?" Well, the answer is "none of them"; it's just a movie, dummy! I jest, but this is the kind of subconscious humor which surfaces as one watches the film, where your assumptions about reality are often upended. Even the girl, Reality, pokes fun at the film sharing her name, when she comments to Zog--who has been filming her falling asleep--that she's "getting sick of this movie" when the absurdity of having to sleep for real for a shot wears on her. There is a fantastic moment which really sells the metaphysical disconnect between reality and dreams when Jason goes to the movies with his wife, Alice (Élodie Bouchez), only to discover the movie he has yet to start making is already playing at the theater. More than just a similar premise with the same laughable title of "Waves", it is literally his movie, which throws Jason into an existential panic, prompting him to call Bob, who is in the midst of hearing yet another Jason pitch the movie idea to him at the same time. Jason's identity has fractured ad infinitum it would seem, so much so that others like Denis get confused as to who they really are. There is a sense about Reality being a puzzle, only one where the pieces fit, but they come from different sets, so that any resemblance it bears to the image on the box when finished is subject to interpretation...much like that sentence. This kind of absurd humor and intentional warping of the narrative may frustrate some viewers for remaining too oblique to solve; but then some of the most entertaining puzzles can be those which are by nature a paradox--the "chicken or the egg" kind of stuff--where the game is not in the solution, but in the playfulness with which Reality poses the question: what is reality against that of a dream?
Recommended for: Fans of both the philosophical and the absurd, neither excluding one for the other. It is a comical and aptly dream-like film, with screwball absurdity which will evoke plenty of chuckles and enough head-scratching ponderings to make you wonder if it's a premise which is insane or thought-provoking...or both.
So what do all of these seemingly unrelated stories have in common? Periodically, one character's story may intersect with another's, but some of the events in the film are later revealed to have been a dream. But if that's the case--and some of the events we see are dreams--then how can that justify the other characters witnessing of the events, unless they were a part of the dream, too? Quentin Dupieux's film intentionally subverts continuity, and creates a paradox of identity and reality by making dreams indistinguishable from reality, considering any semblance of reality in this film is already wholly weird. Dupeiux's work has always erred on the side of the bizarre and self-aware--such as his film, Rubber--but Reality is, for all its strangeness, a surprisingly philosophical meditation on reality and dreams. You may ask yourself, "which one of these scenarios is the real one?" Well, the answer is "none of them"; it's just a movie, dummy! I jest, but this is the kind of subconscious humor which surfaces as one watches the film, where your assumptions about reality are often upended. Even the girl, Reality, pokes fun at the film sharing her name, when she comments to Zog--who has been filming her falling asleep--that she's "getting sick of this movie" when the absurdity of having to sleep for real for a shot wears on her. There is a fantastic moment which really sells the metaphysical disconnect between reality and dreams when Jason goes to the movies with his wife, Alice (Élodie Bouchez), only to discover the movie he has yet to start making is already playing at the theater. More than just a similar premise with the same laughable title of "Waves", it is literally his movie, which throws Jason into an existential panic, prompting him to call Bob, who is in the midst of hearing yet another Jason pitch the movie idea to him at the same time. Jason's identity has fractured ad infinitum it would seem, so much so that others like Denis get confused as to who they really are. There is a sense about Reality being a puzzle, only one where the pieces fit, but they come from different sets, so that any resemblance it bears to the image on the box when finished is subject to interpretation...much like that sentence. This kind of absurd humor and intentional warping of the narrative may frustrate some viewers for remaining too oblique to solve; but then some of the most entertaining puzzles can be those which are by nature a paradox--the "chicken or the egg" kind of stuff--where the game is not in the solution, but in the playfulness with which Reality poses the question: what is reality against that of a dream?
Recommended for: Fans of both the philosophical and the absurd, neither excluding one for the other. It is a comical and aptly dream-like film, with screwball absurdity which will evoke plenty of chuckles and enough head-scratching ponderings to make you wonder if it's a premise which is insane or thought-provoking...or both.