Matteo Garrone
New Film: Reality
Country: Italy
Age: 43
Best Known for: The sprawling Italian crime drama Gomorrah
Cannes History
Garrone's first—and to date, only—taste of Cannes was a sweet one: Gomorrah took home 2008's Grand Prix Award.
His Resume
Contrary to what I previously believed, Garrone has been in the business a while. That said, he's still one of the younger filmmakers in the Competition this year. His first feature was Terra di mezzo, a 1996 film classified on IMDb as a "semi-documentary". For the next twelve years, he focused mostly on romantic dramas. Some, like 2000's Roman Summer, are lighthearted. Others, like The Embalmer, lean more in the direction of a thriller.
Gomorrah, then, was a shock, and a departure. There wasn't anything on Garrone's resume to indicate that with just one film (a gangster epic, at that), he'd enter the Cannes clique for good. The attention Gomorrah earned Garrone undoubtedly changed his career, but it's unclear whether or how much it changed the kind of movies he's making.
Garrone On-Demand
Hulu Plus: N/A
iTunes: Gomorrah
Netflix Instant: Gomorrah
Vudu: N/A
Reality
"A father ... is so infatuated with the reality TV show "Grande Fratello" (the Italian version of "Big Brother") he starts living his life as if he were on it." —Ropes of Silicon
It seems Reality (formerly titled "The Big House") is a blend of old Garrone and new Garrone. Old Garrone's playfulness and comedic sensibilities combine with the new Garrone that deals with contemporary Italian societal problems. I think the film, written by Garrone like each and every one of his other pictures, is a major test for him. Not to diminish his earlier works (none of which I've seen), but if he reverts back too much to the films that left him toiling in anonymity, we won't hear much of a peep about it outside the confines of Cannes. If, on the other hand, Reality (production still below) resonates with this crusty crowd, it could contend for a major award, especially considering the jury's president is one of Garrone's fellow countrymen.
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