“Reality Bites” depicts a bitter reality in a bright and pop way, embodying Generation X

Ben Stiller made his directorial debut with sincerity

Another notable feature is the cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, a Mexican who is an early member of Gen X. Lubezki went on to win the Academy Award for Gravity for Gravity (2013), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), and The Revenant (2015) (he is the only person to win the award three years in a row). At the time of Reality Bites, he had just made his debut in the US and was still young in his career, so the cinematographer's individuality is not apparent in this film. However, as can be seen from his Oscar-winning work, if you watch this as the early work of a master cinematographer who would later perform superhuman camerawork, you may discover something unexpected.

With such a great cast and crew, and a perfect soundtrack, it seems like Ben Stiller has made the pieces fit together perfectly, even though it was his first directorial work. After this film, Stiller has basically been making comedies as a director, such as " Zoolander " (2001) and " Tropic Thunder " (2008). "Reality Bites" has many funny elements and scenes, but it is a coming-of-age movie and is faithful to its directorial debut.

"Reality Bites" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

The title "Reality Bites" is often taken to mean "the bite of reality = reality hurts". However, screenwriter Childress was inspired by the word "soundbites" (words and images of politicians and others excerpted for news) that he heard on the news of the 1992 US presidential election. This led to Lelaina shooting the documentary with the awareness of "little snippets of reality," and the work is introduced as "Reality Bites" in the film. It also became the title of the entire film.

"Reality Bites" begins with the message that "reality is painful," but when you finish watching it, you find that it is sweet and gentle rather than bitter. Just as Lelaina said in her speech at the beginning, "I don't know how to live," and when you imagine what happens after the ending, you can picture the protagonists living freely in a life without answers, which seems to predict what Generation X will be like.

Text: Hiroaki Saito

Became freelance in 1997, contributing movie reviews and interview articles to various media such as movie magazines, theater pamphlets, and movie sites. The column is constantly updated on Yahoo! News.

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