Réalité

I first learned of Quentin Dupieux when I saw his 2010 absurdist black comedy "Rubber" (about a tire on a killing spree). Now comes "Réalité" ("Reality" in English), about a director who has to find the ideal groan of pain for a proposed movie. At least that's the main plot. Throughout the movie, reality, fiction and dreams keep overlapping so that you're not sure just what is real. David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" is probably the only other movie that messes with your mind this much.

This movie won't be for everyone. You have to be willing to accept the repeated shift from apparent reality to fiction, often taking place simultaneously. Assuming that you enjoy a movie that deliberately confuses you, you'll like this one. It's not like anything that you've ever seen.

PS: Quentin Dupieux is an electronic musician who goes by Mr. Oizo (a corruption of the French word for bird).

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.

Pun quite intended. If you know the director, you will be aware that the movies he has put out can be called anything - but ordinary. Or predictable for that matter. Having said that, this is especially weird ... with many things not making sense ... well in the real world. On the other hand, what is reality if not fiction? Or something along those lines.

If you are being told certain things, if life itself unravels in front of you ... if you have to look for a special scream ... which is necessary, because otherwise the great movie you think you have ready to be produced ... well will not be made. There is so much to unpack, there are so many things that cancel each other out, there are so many expectations that are willfully not met. There is craziness and then there is this ... tough to rate and/or review. So I can only tell you what you can expect .. sort of. Because nothing can prepare you ... other than having watched his other movies that is.

damn, before watching, i had no clue what to expect, and after watching it, i still don't know what happened. The name is very suiting and everything about the story is insane, its so confusing and amazing. At least for me. The first half of the movie is just like a normal movie, with a few interesting scenes and story lines. but once you get into the 50 minute mark, your mind gets blown and the score you were planning on giving rises from a 6 to a 8, 9 or 10. But if you don't like unique and strange movies (which i don't think a lot of people do, this is truly unique to not like it) your score might drop lower to a 3 or a 4. I saw one review of this movie saying he got too bored after 30 minutes and stopped watching the movie, well i guess he missed the good crazy parts that make this movie so special, unique, bizarre, and in a strange way incredibly good. The simple utter confusion of the movie is what makes this one so special and good. simply a must watch. Be prepared to get confused!

I've seen my fair share of confusing films throughout my life. But they're usually confusing in such different ways. I don't think i'd ever seen a film quite like this. It can definitely be enjoyable on a scene-to-scene basis, no doubt, but it can also leave you wondering just what exactly is going on. Does the film amount to anything? I'm not quite sure, but I did enjoy it. It's ded=finitely a very divisive film, one where people will either love or hate (and the reason I don't either is because I do think I'm more open tot his sort of thing. I wouldn't recommend this to all audiences (maybe not even to most) but I do think there is a lot of merit here.