Realism is always subjective in film. There's no such thing as cinema verite. The only true cinema verite would be what Andy Warhol did with his film about the Empire State Building - eight hours or so from one angle, and even then it's not really cinema verite, because you aren't actually there.
“Documentary films are created in an inverted funnel of declining possibility.”
“There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation - veneer isn't worth anything.”