Review: Wishing on a Star
- VENICE 2024: In his heartfelt but entertaining documentary, Peter Kerekes follows a Neapolitan astrologer and her customers on their path to finding new meaning in life
Furniture is flying out of the small tower of an Italian home in the countryside. Luciana is standing at the window, hurling out piece after piece. “We burn the old so the new can come,” she remarks. If anything, this quote should be her business card. She is an astrologer well versed in geography, and making a wish, as well as getting a new life, is one of the mantras in Peter Kerekes' documentary Wishing on a Star [+see also:
trailer
interview: Peter Kerekes
film profile], which has premiered in the Orizzonti section of the 81st Venice Film Festival.
The way to do so is by being reborn on your birthday. Luciana’s model is simple: celebrate your special day in a location whose astral projections are just right, and it will help you achieve your goals. What are those goals? The usual, she explains: “Get rich, find true love and make the emptiness go away.” Love, her daughter chips in at one point, “is a bit overvalued”. It’s an entertaining, universal truth, and Kerekes pointedly picks up on the dry humour, turning her consulting sessions into a quick-witted, at times saddening, at other times entertaining, tour de force.
Luciana certainly can’t complain about a lack of clients. One can only guess how many of them Kerekes filmed, but he definitely picked some of the most peculiar and moving ones. There is middle-aged Giovanni, who is running his family’s funeral business and is now under pressure to produce an heir. One of the strongest advocates for finding a woman is his mother, who is nevertheless holding onto him a bit too tightly. There are twins Adriana and Giuliana, who insist that they are very different, yet always dress in matching outfits. Adriana wants Giuliana to find love and have a kid, while Giuliana wants to travel the world.
“The secret to a long life is minding your own business,” is another pearl of wisdom from Luciana, intended as valuable advice for the women, before she does the calculations for a trip to Beirut, Lebanon. This might seem amusing, but Kerekes never ridicules his colourful roster of characters. Rather, their stumbles and errors evoke humour by exhibiting painful moments of truth followed by possible catharsis.
One female client has been tied to her ailing mother for too long, while another does not share any interests with her cold husband. Both are too afraid to change anything owing to the possibility of ending up alone. Another one has a complicated love-hate relationship with her father keeping her from forming meaningful connections with men. From the perfectly framed, studio-lit profile shots introducing them, Kerekes follows these people in their daily lives, whether they are with the family members that pose challenges for them, on their birthday trips, or on alternative journeys or cancelling proceedings altogether.
“You make your own destiny; prewritten fate does not exist,” is another truth Luciana tries to convey. But it is easy to preach and hard to take one’s own advice, as Kerekes proves by bringing his gaze back to her. Luciana’s wish includes going back to her beloved native Naples. The question is, will the stars align for that on her birthday? Or will she have to take matters into her own hands?
Wishing on a Star was produced by Italy’s Videomante, Slovakia’s KerekesFilm and Radio and Television Slovakia, Czech outfit Artcam Films, Austria’s Mischief Films and Croatia’s Restart, with the participation of Taiwan’s Volos Films. It is being sold internationally by Films Boutique.
