The Voice of the Moon

The Voice of the Moon is a 1990 Italian dramatic comedy film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Roberto Benigni, Paolo Villaggio, and Nadia Ottaviani. Returning to themes he first explored in La strada, Fellini crafts a parable on the whisperings of the soul that only madmen and vagabonds are capable of hearing. Based on the novel Il poema dei lunatici by Ermano Cavazzoni, the film is about a fake inspector of wells and a former prefect who wander through the Emilia-Romagna countryside of Fellini's childhood and discover a dystopia of television commercials, fascism, beauty pageants, rock music, Catholicism, and pagan ritual. The film received David di Donatello Awards for Best Actor, Best Editing, and Best Production Design, and nominations for Best Director, Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Producer. The Voice of the Moon was Fellini's last film before his death in 1993.