In Search of Fellini

"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.

You don't have to be a Fellini fan to enjoy and appreciate this movie, but if you have some familiarity, you will catch the references built into both the story and the cinematography (which is beautiful) and the Fellini clips integrated throughout. The story is a stylized, semi-autobiographical view of a solo trip co-writer Nancy Cartwright made to Italy in her early 20s after becoming enamored of the films of Federico Fellini. Ksenia Solo as Lucy, gives a wonderful performance, growing from wide eyed innocence and naivety through her experiences, good and bad (and bizarre). Her eyes alone speak volumes in every scene. Maria Bello and Mary Lynn Rajskub as Lucy's mother and aunt also shine as they negotiate their relationships both with Lucy and each other.

If you're looking for a typical Hollywood cookie-cutter predictable film, stay at home and watch Bridget Jones because this isn't one of those.

Its stunning photography and enough of a Fellini film's "Huh?", mixed with a story which made me have to suspend belief a couple times but then I remembered it's not a documentary so I was good again. Oh, yeah - it's a movie! I got immersed, involved and actually got a bit emotional at the end.

I probably came away with a slightly different take on what the film was about than you will, and that's my favorite thing about art. Go see it and enjoy the beauty of your own journey with this lovely film.

USA Film Festival 2017 Greetings again from the darkness. Even In this age of "helicopter parenting" it's disconcerting to see such flagrant over-protectiveness as that perpetuated by Maria Bello's character on her daughter Lucy. For film lovers, it's even more disheartening to see how the mother uses "happy ending" movies such as It's a Wonderful Life to create the social bubble that results in 20 year old Lucy having never been kissed, and having no concept of reality (outside of what she has seen in movies).

Contrary to what that set-up would have us believe, director Taron Lexton's film is actually less Coming-of-Age and more 'Welcome to the Universe', and Lucy's journey of self-discovery is quite enjoyable to behold. Co-written by Nancy Cartwright and Peter Kjenaas, it's the 'based on a true story' of Ms. Cartwright's own personal journey prior to her nearly 30 year run as the voice of Bart Simpson.

Lucy (Ksenia Solo, Black Swan) is off on an interview-gone-wrong when she stumbles into a Fellini film festival. She is immediately entranced by the obscure imagery and often less-than-happy endings. In fact, she connects with the films in such a manner that she is inspired to travel to Italy and meet with the Maestro himself. Ms. Cartwright's real life motivation stemmed from watching Fellini's La Strada (1954), and she instantly saw herself in Gelsomina (played by the spirited Giuletta Masina).

Her travels through Italy are filled with ups and downs, and Lucy crosses paths with good people and bad. It's her first true life experience and we are along for the ride. The structure of the story is such that as Lucy is discovering life, her mother (Bello) is back home in Ohio slowly losing her battle with cancer while being nursed by her straight-talking sister (Mary Lynn Rajskub, Chloe from "24"). Such contrasting elements would fit right in to a Fellini film.

At some point, most movie lovers experience the awakening that occurs when graduating from pleasant, feel good family movies to more esoteric and philosophical cinema. Fortunately, this awakening typically occurs before age 20 and does not require an international trip or dying mother to allow us to grow as a person. Ms. Cartwright's willingness to share her story makes for interesting filmmaking and one of the more unusual coming-of-age (or Welcome to the Universe) twists that we've seen on screen.

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.