Product: The Magic of Fellini (2002)
Rating: 2.0
Lightweight TV Profile
Unfortunately, this 52 minute documentary is nothing more than a string of mediocre interviews with clips from Fellini's films that cinephiles have all seen before. Not without charm (provided by Carmen Piccini's obvious enthusiasm for her subject), the doc may possibly serve as a very basic introduction to the Maestro's films but fans will be ill-served. It does not, in any way, capture Fellini's complex, enigmatic personality nor offer fresh, in-depth interviews with the master himself. It does not possess memorable camera work by a genuine documentarian nor an original and incisive script that would lift it out of the hagiographic, lightweight, cut-and-paste cable TV doc format . The short archival interviews with Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese are worthless for what they offer - nothing but platitudes - although Anthony Quinn's tame anecdotes make for pleasant enough viewing - which, ultimately, is what this hokey-pokey documentary is all about: a curiously uninspired and unrevealing stroll through the felliniesque.