"Does film need realism to meet its highest potential?"

In the last few decades of film we have seen a drastic climb to bring realism to the screen, whether it’s the amount of bullets in the John Wick’s gun or the way a tsunami hits buildings at over 500 miles per hour. However, the realism that is in subject are films that have a plot carrying out real life, such as The Before Trilogy or A Marriage Story. Some even have gone the length to say that hyper realistic films are a sort of poetry in the world of cinema. They say the closer you can get to mirroring the pain and happiness of humans the better. This seems skewed when you think of this in terms of an art museum and look at a photo realistic image. You step up to this perfect copy of the world and... sadly, that’s it just a copy.

Look at Cerchi Perfetti, by Roberto Bernardi. It’s beautiful; you can’t help but feel like this has to be a photo. It’s not; that’s paint. So it is asked, “Does this mean anything to you?” It means a lot to Bernardi. He sees this hyper photo realistic piece as a compliment to life. Taking in the inner beauty and peace that we often look over.

Cerchi Perfetti by Roberto Bernardi

Though after a day or two you will probably look over it like everything else. Now take in for example Past Times, by Kerry James Marshal. All of his works capture African American life in our world, but it’s not necessarily painted realistically. Both artists want you to pay attention to things that are overlooked. For Bernardi it was candy, pots and pans. For Marshal it was how the western community overlooked African Americans in art. Kerry Marshals work sticks with you, you walk away feeling it deeply in your soul. You almost question your relationship with the subjects in the piece because it feels as if you know them. The two artists capture the world in a beautiful way but with very different weights and concepts. This begs the question, “Why does film have to be realistic? Why does the presence of our own world dictate if something is proper in showing us what is needed to be seen."

Past Times by Kerry James Marshal

Why do we feel like film has to mirror our world? Watching films/television such as She- Ra and the Princesses of Power, I’m Thinking of Ending Things or Me, You and Everyone We Know. I can’t help but feel closer to the stories and characters because they use the lack of our normal world to explain the inner meanings of their characters. In Being John Malkovich, Spike Jones and Charlie Kaufman capture the feeling of wanting to escape the everyday monotony of our life’s. Sure we can represent these same ideas with Manchester by the Sea. Kenneth Lonergan brings in a similar feeling of wanting to escape ones world. Lee Chandler is guilt stricken with the death of his children. The movie uses our a mirror of our world to explain the similar feelings of isolation and fear.

Although, considering this dive into a time of realistic cinema, we must look back on the era of film that inspired the new. Italian Neorealism was one of the most remarkable eras of cinema that brought everyday life to the screen. This flourishing time in Europe resulting from WWII and the invention of the handheld camera, inspiring filmmakers to become very creative. The Italians brought in a dark and gritty nature that looked down on life. Movies like Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D show the hardships of living in a post war country. Though these films didn’t work to escape from hard times, they used exaggerated plots to talk about the inner feelings of the main characters.

Bicycle Thieves

The events of Bicycle Thieves are realistic, though the way they are carried out are heightened to show the stress and inner conflict that Italians were feeling; capturing the uncertainty and lack of faith people have in each other. Bruno buys a bike for work only to have it stolen. After working day and night to get it back he is stretched so thin that he decides to steal himself. This is when he is stopped by an angry mob. No one is on Bruno’s side, the world is against him.

Now it’s certain that someone could bring out as much meaning from film devised from our world as much as any fantasy epic. Human perception of themes and narrative are singular and personal. Some prefer an in depth story with extreme and fascinating plots. Whiles others enjoy poetry, a light take on our normal worlds that hold deep meaning underneath. Though it is time to stop treating dreamlike narratives s child’s play and speaking to one another through it.