In Search of Fellini (2017)

Photo from IMDb

Plot Summary

Ohio 1993,

This was a story about a 20-year-old Lucy Cunningham, who had never kissed a boy, never had a job, and never really had friends. Her mother, Claire, and her aunt, Kerri, were the only people who could influence her life. Lucy had been raised by Claire with “helicopter parenting.” This mother-daughter duo could spend hours in front of a TV watching happy-ending movies, so Lucy always looked at the world through rose glasses.

Until one day, when Claire knew that she would not live longer to protect her daughter from the real world, she realized that Lucy was 20 but acted like a 13-year-old girl. Her straight-talking sister, Kerri, convinced Claire to let Lucy go on her own.

An interview-gone-wrong-all-the-way accidentally led Lucy to a Fellini film festival, where she, for the first time in her life, watched a movie with a less-than-happy ending. Lucy managed to get home with bunches of VHS tapes of Federico Fellini’s famous movies such as La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, etc. She fell in love with Fellini and wanted to travel to Italy to meet with the maestro.

Lucy’s unexpected journeys through Verona, Venice and Rome were filled with ups and downs, and she crossed paths with good people as well as bad ones. At home in Ohio, Claire passed away before Lucy could fulfill her wish meeting with Fellini. On the same day, news reported that the great Italian director also died. But after all, Lucy found her own “Fellini,” who was the love of her life.

The film ends with a scene from Fellini’s La Strada in which Anthony Quinn said to Giulietta Masina: “Everything has purpose. Even this pebble. Even the stars. Even you.”

What’s in it for me?

This aesthetic film is a magical journey, through Federico Fellini’s movies, through Italian famous cities such as Verona, Venice and Rome with a great combination of cinematography, sound and music. It’s also a wonderful story about childhood, adolescence, about coming of age, about parenting, and of course, about romance. To the parents, let your children go on their own ways, for this life is their beautiful life, not yours. To the teenagers who are becoming adults, welcome to the universe!

Ratings

IMDb as of March 26, 2018: 6.3 (658 users)

Mine: 8/10

People who like this movie should watch

La Strada (1954)

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Lady Bird (2017)

Boyhood (2014)

Fight Club (1999)

Photo from Imdb

Plot Summary

(This kind of movie is very special, so I decided not to go over some plots and keep the end of the movie in secret so that those who haven’t seen the film can experience a big surprise.)

Los Angeles 1990s,

A young urban professional (the narrator) who worked for a major car manufacturer and suffered from insomnia . Although he didn’t really have any social interactions, he decided to attend group therapy sessions for people who had survived various diseases, which in turn allowed him to sleep. But the use of these support groups was ruined when he met a young woman named Marla, who was also going to all these support group therapy sessions. Marla’s presence lessened the of the pressure of his life. But, his life really changed when he met a soap manufacturer named Tyler on a flight home. Tyler, in many ways, was the exact opposite of the narrator. Due to unusual circumstances with his own condo, the narrator moved in with Tyler, who lived in a large but old and poor house in an abandoned part of town. After some real fights with Tyler in a bar parking lot, the narrator found the fighting became a ritual between the two of them, which helped him deal with the other more difficult aspects of his life. The fights also attracted others who not only wanted to watch but joined in. Understanding that there are other men like them, the narrator and Tyler started a secret fight club with strict rules for its members. As the fight club’s popularity grew, so did its scope in all aspects. Marla then became a circle not specifically of the fight clubs but of Tyler and the narrator’s lives. As the nature of the fight clubs became out of control in the narrator’s view and his life, he no longer understood what was happening around him and decided that there was only one way out: killing himself.

What’s in it for me?

This movie has everything I could possibly want from a film and the thing that excites me the most, is that it probably has even more that I am yet to discover. I also think that people may have different views of the film depending on their current life. I watched the movie 3 times in different periods of time, each time I figured out a new thing to think about.

This film first of all challenge our concept of happiness. For some people, happiness is just a good sleep. It’s also about taking action. It is a story of how one man changes his life when he decides to “just do it” and there are motivations for anyone to do the same thing for whatever they want to achieve in life. Even deeper than the message to take action, is the criticism of those who don’t dare to take action, of those who avoid living in the moment to pursuit unreal values. It’s a result of consumerism and materialism. I found another message of the movie that may be live your own life, don’t live other’s.

Who’s in the movie?

Director:

David Fincher.  He was nominated 2 Oscars for Best Achievement in Directing with The Social Network (2010) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). He’s also known for directing Gone Girl (2014), Se7en (1995), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Zodiac (2007)

Stars:

Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt won an Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year with 12 Years a Slave (2013). He’s also know for Moneyball (2011), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Babel (2006), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Mr. & Mrs Smith (2005). Brad Pitt had two infamous divorce with Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. 

Edward Norton. Norton was nominated Oscars for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role  with Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), Best Actor in a Leading Role with American History X (1998), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role with Primal Fear (1996). 

Ratings

People like this movie should watch

The Machinist (2004)

Se7en (1995)

Gone Girl (2014)

American Psycho (2000)

American History X (1998)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)