Good cinema takes time. Matteo Garrone first thought of the idea behind “Dogman” in 2008. He had this image, that of “a few dogs, locked up in a cage, bearing witness to the explosion of human bestiality” (from the production notes). “Dogman” (Garrone’s fourth film in Cannes) is like a corroded fresco of an Italy that’s concealed from the sightseeing brochures. Like in “Reality,” or “Gomorra,” the characters

After Luciano, the main character in Matteo Garrone’s new film “Reality” (out March 15th) gets the call from a T.V. studio telling him he’s made the first cut in a casting call for the reality T.V. show “Grande Fratello” (“Big Brother”), he gradually slides into full-blown paranoid megalomania. Watching him wait anxiously for the next round of callbacks is comical at first, until his affliction threatens to take him and his family down. It’s

Opening shot: a bird’s eye view of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius in the background, as if God were gazing at his Creation. Director Matteo Garrone’s camera glides toward some unknown destination, a shot which is set to the sound of the enchanted Alexandre Desplat-composed score (in affect, at least, it’s reminiscent of the “Nutcracker Suite”). We get closer to earth when, steadily, a white horse-drawn carriage, festooned with tall

Everyone is, alas, familiar with the Mafia. Tony Montana, Al [...]