This is a hard review to write because this was a somewhat difficult movie for me to understand. It doesn't have a typical story structure, it kind of doesn't really have a main character and it is filled with artistic subjectivity. When looking at the film strictly as a comedy, it gets the job done. It made me laugh the whole time. When looking at it as a period or cultural piece, it also gets the job done. It is a convincing, albeit absurdist, portrayal of a small Italian town during the rise of Mussolini. It has the typical Fellini quirks; the silliness, the sensuality, the constant dialogue but it was missing something that made me love 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita. I can't pinpoint what that is but I definitely didn't care for the characters as much as I have in other Fellini films even though the acting was just as strong.
