Archi-faux

As it turns out, the London Bridge isn’t specific to London, an Eiffel Tower exists outside of Paris, pyramids can be found far from Egypt, and there is more than one Taj Mahal. In fact, replicas of famous landmarks around the world are more common than you might think. Traveling to China, India, and West Africa to capture these replicas, and to explore the motivations behind them, The Real Thing brings forth questions of authenticity and originality. While some see these re-creations as a sign of harmonious integration of Eastern and Western cultures, others find them to be odd and distasteful. Either way, the juxtaposition of European architecture in the middle of Chinese cities makes for an alluring image. Beautifully bizarre and curiously captivating, The Real Thing is a one-of-a-kind documentary about some surprisingly not so one-of-a-kind landmarks. (Cleveland International Film Festival)