La Voce Della Luna (aka The Voice In The Moon) (1990)

Recently released from a mental asylum, two men (Roberto Benigni, Paolo Villaggio) roam the Italian countryside where they have a series of surrealistic adventures including the capture of the moon. Based on the novel IL POEMA DEI LUNATICI by Ermano Cavazzoni and directed by Federico Fellini (LA DOLCE VITA). This was Federico Fellini's final film and I wish I could say it was a great swan song but frankly, I found the movie to be almost unwatchable. It was if I was watching a movie by a lesser talent imitating Fellini. I didn't mind the often incoherent narrative, after all this is Fellini. The word lunatic comes from the word luna which means moon and Fellini takes it to heart as he attempts to make a connection with the two mentally ill protagonists who feel the pull of the moon. While the film was a massive hit in Italy ((it received three David Di Donatello awards, the Italian Oscar), the rest of the world dismissed it. It just meanders around with the usual array of Fellini oddballs and while you get a sense of what themes Fellini is pushing, it's just a mess. I must confess that other than CITY OF WOMEN and GINGER AND FRED, I didn't much care for Fellini's output from the 1970s on. With Nadia Ottaviani and Angelo Orlando.