Voce della luna, La (1990)

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Ermanno Cavazzoni (novel)
Ermanno Cavazzoni (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 February 1990 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Surreal | Moon | Cult Director | Fool | Journalist

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Roberto Benigni	...	Ivo Salvini
Paolo Villaggio	...	Gonnella
Nadia Ottaviani	...	Aldina
Marisa Tomasi	...	Marisa
Angelo Orlando	...	Nestore
Sim	...	Flute player
Susy Blady	...	Susy
Dario Ghirardi	...	Journalist
Dominique Chevalier	...	1st Micheluzzi Brother
Nigel Harris	...	2nd Micheluzzi Brother
Vito	...	3rd Micheluzzi Brother
Daniela Airoldi
Stefano Antonucci
Ferruccio Brembilla
Stefano Cedrati

Also Known As:

The Voice of the Moon

Runtime:

Argentina:122 min | USA:120 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:T | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Stabilimenti Cinematagrafici Pontini, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica

Trivia:

Even the original (Italian) dialogue was re-dubbed in order to increase the feeling of unreality. However, this is not a unique feature for this particular movie among Fellini's. On the contrary, it was very common for him to ask his performers to speak out loud randomly chosen numbers instead of the actual script text. Then the main cast would re-dub itself, the supporting cast being most of the time re-dubbed by a few specialized actors. It has to be said that in Italy direct sound wasn't much in use until the French 'Nouvelle Vague' made a massive use of it, in the name of realism, and thus became an example for the Italian film industry. Re-dubbing remained nonetheless a common practice, and an excellent one at that until the 1980s, and Fellini took advantage of its possibilities to increase the feeling of unreality in all of his movies by asking his dubbers (all of them) not to perfectly lip-sync. The only exceptions to this technique are his very early works, where the famous dreamlike world and sensitivity of the director aren't still outlined.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Towards the Moon with Fellini (2006)

Fellini's last film not quite vintage but still striking.

It is a pity that Fellini's last film is not better known as it represents something of a return to form after a series of disappointments. .Fellini's visual imagination is still intact but some of the wonderful precision of imagery is no longer present. Perhaps by the end of his career too many of his old collaborators had died or retired. The best part is the first half hour seen entirely from the perspective of the insane central characters. Their obsession with the moon provides the alibi for many evocative night shots, (I've often thought that one thing that distinguishes great film makers is how they film the night), as well as the spectacular climactic sequence when they imagine that they have trapped the moon. Elsewhere there is typical Fellini fun with the crowning of 'Miss Flower' complete with an outsize King and Queen of the Gnocci and a final shower of flower on all the contestants. 'La voce della Luna' shares much of 'Ginger and Fred's' distaste for the contemporary world summed up in a sequence in which a disco rave is interrupted by a Strauss waltz. This is far more poetic and unexpected than anything in the predictable 'Ginger and Fred'. Those worried by the narrative incoherence of Fellini can bury their boring heads in a screen writing manual. Perhaps the current international popularity of Roberto Benigni, little known outside Italy when the fim was made may yet allow this flawed but haunting film to gain the audience it deserves.