In Search of Fellini

It's 1993. Lucy Cunningham (Ksenia Solo) is a naive 20 year old living in small town Ohio with her dreamer mother Claire (Maria Bello). Claire is so protective that anything or anyone dying would require her to write a postcard to Lucy pretending to be the loved one or pet still alive and simply on a joyful trip. After reading a newspaper ad, Lucy decides to apply for a film job in the big city of Cleveland. She promptly loses her Vespa and the job turns out to be porn. She is drawn to a Fellini film festival which leads her to a life-changing journey to Italy while her mother hides her terminal illness.

This is a nice coming-of-age story. Quite frankly, I like this more than all those other finding-yourself-in-Italy movies. The three ladies create a great family connection. I find the surrealism in Cleveland very endearing. It could use more surrealism in Italy. It's definitely trying to recreate Fellini with many of the old film clips. It's very Fellini but it needs to be more. One way to create more surrealism is Lucy's drawings. It would be interesting to see her artwork come alive. While I like Ksenia Solo, she is in her late 20's but the character is only 20. At times, she can't quite reach the wide-eyed innocent that the role requires. The character is already more childlike than her twenty years. It's asking a lot from an actress in her late 20s. Overall, it's a wonderful trip with an appealing character.

"In Search of Fellini" is not a film without flaws but due to a well-crafted sense of wonder, an obvious reverence of Fellini's work, and especially a terrific lead performance, it is able to overcome them and in the end deliver a satisfying drama.

Young Lucy has been sheltered from the world by her loving, though over-protective, mom and after her 1st job interview goes awry, she stumbles upon a Fellini film festival and falls in love with the enigmatic films. So enamored is Lucy that she travels to Italy in the hopes of meeting the legendary filmmaker, in the process getting introduced to the real world, both the bad and the good of it.

The film's writing is generally well done, though a couple aspects of the story require some suspension of disbelief. I didn't find that any of these moments too damaging however, though occasionally just a little distracting.

The visuals were excellent; From beautiful wide shots of Italy too party scenes where vivid color usage livens things up, the film was nice looking and more importantly did a great job of placing how Lucy was viewing these scenes and events onto the screen. Her sense of excitement and wonder at the beauty of the Colosseum, for instance, along with her feelings of confusion during a hectic dance scene. Very well done indeed by the first-time director Taron Lexton and his cinematographer.

I admit to not being a connoisseur of Frederico Fellini, though I have found what I have watched of his films enjoyable. The people behind "In Search of Fellini" obviously have great admiration of the late filmmaker, as their movie is chock full of references and parallels to his films. From the obvious (such as the appearance of the 'man in chains') to the subtler (Lucy's striped shirt) the love of Fellini is everywhere, and just seeing how much these filmmakers admired him adds even more charm to an already charming film.

My favorite part of the movie however was Ksenia Solo's performance as Lucy. Already a big fan of Miss Solo's previous work, I think this may be her finest performance yet. Her Lucy is naïve and shy, though occasionally rash, but also curious and the primary source of the aforementioned charm. Miss Solo delivers all of this and a wide range of emotion throughout the film, in my opinion just top-notch work. The other actors do their part too though, Maria Bello as Lucy's mother Claire and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Claire's sister both deliver good performances as well.

My main criticisms of the film are the previously mentioned parts of the story that require 'suspension of disbelief', but also the fact the film is occasionally melodramatic. There are more than a few times where some more subtlety would have been welcome.

All in all, In Search of Fellini is probably not a brilliant film, but it is certainly a good one. Wonder-filled with some dramatic punch to boot, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. 8/10.

This film is a magical journey, truly. The cinematography, sound and music combine with winning direction and performances to make for a very emotional and aesthetic film. Plus, you really feel like you have been to Venice, Rome and Verona! Well done, all departments. I enjoyed it very much and so did my wife and my mom.

In Search of Fellini was beautifully done. Every moment of the actors' lines and scenes were authentic. The entire cast did very well in their roles, from the film extras to the lead roles. Peter Arpesella as Fellini's assistant was also very well done.

Ksenia Solo was a delight to watch as the isolated, painfully shy, innocent, and vulnerable Lucy. Enrico Oetiker as Pietro lit up the screen with his natural charisma and quiet intensity. Enrico did not have much overall screen time, but made a strong and lasting impression. Maria Bello as Lucy's mother and Mary Lyn Rajskub as Kerri were wonderfully acted.

The love interests in this film share an onscreen chemistry that is rare. Their connection was natural, organic, and profound. There are moments in this film that remind me of the unmatched magic like quality of the many Italian classics I have enjoyed. The film score flows seamlessly within this movie and is just the right complement to the action and often is quite moving. The film is not necessarily fantasy and not quite realistic, but somewhere in between...perfect for a Fellini inspired film and very well done tribute to a master.

Amazingly not a valentine to Fellini, this strange film invents and fluently speaks its own language throughout. It is pure storytelling - never veering into hero worship, it stays with the story of this young, fascinated woman on her peculiar journey of discovery. It manages to extract some of the more dazzling and compelling images from Fellini's films, particularly not to say emphatically, Giulietta Masina in La Strada and weave it facilely with the character's "real" time experiences. (How did they do that?!) I expected the worst but instead found it romantic and lighthanded, at times delightful. Anyone who goes to this film in search of parenting wisdom, will likely be disappointed. We are - refreshingly - shown her upbringing as a fait accompli without moralization, or in Fellini-like fashion. The film is the opposite of prescriptive.

Very lovely work.