Wishing on a Star

Astrologer Luciana determines where each of her clients should travel, close or far away, in order to be reborn on their birthday, however, the search for elusive happiness and surprising fate rarely follows the predicted plan. A charming entertainment that pays homage to Italian cinema.

“We burn the old so the new can come.” This astrological philosophy held by Luciana is the basis of her life-guidance practice: she analyses the charts in order to determine where each pining, unfulfilled individual should go in the wide world in order to be reborn on their birthday. Some wish for love, others seek contentment within themselves or their family. The range of characters includes identical twins (always positioned the same, left and right in the frame, so that we can identify them!), a funeral director, a butcher and several domineering mothers… The future is unwritten and everyone must forge their own destiny – and yet, it seems, nothing goes even slightly according to the predicted plan for Luciana’s clients. And, on top of that, the astrologer has her own problems to face.

Filmmaker Peter Kerekes proclaims himself a Hungarian who has always wanted to make a very “Italian” film – and, indeed, Lucia Chuťková’s score pays rich homage to Nino Rota’s film scores for Fellini. Achieving a combination of fiction (tinged with magical fantasy) and documentary naturalness, Wishing on a Star weaves charming entertainment, as its subjects travel to the ends of the world in search of elusive happiness and surprising fate.

– Adrian Martin

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