Nine

Last time we looked at the beginning of musical history now let’s look at the modern musical; it’s fair to say that the musical has fallen on hard times in recent years. For various reasons, they’re expensive, they’re not guaranteed money earners and you need people who can sing, act and dance. There are still musicals however, Bollywood is still making musicals, Disney is still making musicals and various other studios have dabbled in making musicals. But this film comes into a movement that was created by Moulin Rouge which bought a lot of vitality back to the musical genre. Now Nine was based on the theatre production of the same name which is popular for film makers to do because it already has an audience, so  it’s not a complete risk so with that said let’s look at the film.

With a cast this amazing I don’t see any point in starting anywhere else, there are so many big names in this cast that it seems a disservice not to start with them. First we have Daniel Day-Lewis who is just so charming throughout this role, he just inhabits the role and it is a testament to his skill as an actor that he gives such a big character, little subtleties which make him seem more realistic. Then we have Marion Coitllard who portrays her character Luisa with such innocence and it’s truly heart breaking as she learns that her marriage is over and what she’s sacrificed as she asks herself, was it worth it? Ultimately it wasn’t Guido can’t give her what she needs. Then we have Penelope Cruz who again puts in a good performance managing to be feisty but again quite innocent in her feistiness sometimes she acts more like Guido’s daughter than her lover but she still manages to be quite sexy and it’s quite tragic. Then we have Judi Dench who’s quite frankly wasted in this part, it’s not that she’s bad but she really deserves a meatier part, she’s just his confidante and while she delivers her funny lines in a funny way, she deserved better lines. Then we have Fergie who seems to be the odd one out in this cast considering she’s known more for her singing than acting but considering she has one song, it works, she certainly does bring a primal force to her performance but she also has a hint of playfulness, she knows she’s in control and despite being surrounded by many talented actors in this film, she holds her own. Then we have Kate Hudson and I don’t want to criticise her but her character just doesn’t fit, this film is meant to be about the women that shaped Guido’s life but she didn’t and she just seems shallow and style obsessed for the sake of it. Then we have Nicole Kidman who plays Carmen who almost seems like a ghost throughout this film which is the point she’s meant to be this otherworldly being to him but she just comes across as too perfect, she doesn’t act like a human being and like Dench you wish she could have been given a meatier part. Lastly we have Sophia Loren, now I’d never heard of Sophia Loren before this film but she’d meant to be one of the great Italian actresses so again, it’s a shame she doesn’t do much, she doesn’t act like a mother, she represents the ideal of motherhood. This is a problem with most of the performances, the actresses don’t act like people, they act like stereotyped ideals of womanhood and there was a real lost chance there to tell a grittier and more human story.

 

I think that last point should lead me into the writing. The plot is simple Guido Contini is about to start making a film, the problem being that he hasn’t wrote a script yet. So he struggles, has sex and breaks up with his wife. So there’s not so much a plot but a character study of this man who has fallen from greatness and is watching his life fall apart. But does it work? The simple answer is yes and no. There are some quite funny lines throughout this movie and you do feel for the character but you’re not really invested him and the women around him with the exception of his wife just don’t seem real. They seem like representations of certain facets of womanhood and none of them judge him or make him feel guilty about the way he lives his life which is a bad thing. This film is meant to be about the importance of these women but they are defined almost entirely by their relationship to Guido and they are not allowed to speak against him. I’ve read that the original ending was a lot darker but this film ends with him making a movie and implies he can get his wife back and it shouldn’t be that easy, the whole point of this movie is that he’s gone too far, he’s pushed himself and those around him to the brink so that’s why he breaks down. But the fact that he just starts again while being happy lacks the drama of a more tragic ending.

So let’s get onto the songs first up we have cinema Italiano which just seems like the odd one out, the song is different from all the other songs in the movie and it sticks out. It’s a good song but it’s not exactly catchy but Kate Hudson looks stunning throughout it and she sings it well. Next we have take it all which is definitely the most emotionally charged song, it’s probably the only time where we get to really feel anything from the female characters. It’s also metaphorically charged as we see someone who’s been depicted as innocent and sweet being a whore and you see the pain and anger she has towards her husband and it’s the only time in the film where he’s held accountable for what he does. Then we have Guido’s song which is quite a fun little song and it’s our first real look at the character, he wants everything because he doesn’t know what he wants. Guido’s personal quest for something is really the driving force behind this movie and the song introduces it quite well. Also Daniel Day-Lewis sings it really well and the editing works well here because this song is intercut with the press conference and again it shows the character’s desire to escape his life. Next we have a call from the Vatican, the song itself is quite unremarkable but the dance sequence is anything but, it’s a really sexy number and the choreography is amazing how it verges on pornographic but never goes that far, it’s just unbelievably enticing. 

Then we have folie begeres which is so incredibly forgettable, the song is bland, the visuals are just ok specially after a call from the Vatican they seem especially bland. Judi Dench sings the song quite well but that’s the only thing you’re going to remember about this song Judi Dench sung it. The next song is a lot better, my husband makes movie whilst not being the best song in the world, Marion Coitllard gives it such an emotional depth, at first she sings it with a tone of resignation but throughout the song she just gets angrier and angrier when she realises what she’s given up over her marriage. Also this song has the simplest visuals; it just lets the emotional power of the song carry it and it works brilliantly. Next we have unusual way which is better than folie Begere because it allows Kidman to portray pain but it pretty much suffers from all the problems that song does. Then we have be Italian which is the best song in the movie, it has a grandness to it and Fergie sings it really well with a lot of raw ferocity and Fergie’s performance during this song is really good, she just encapsulates whores really well, there’s a sense of wildness but also playfulness and also the way this dance uses sand is really good. Then we have I can’t make this movie which isn’t as good as Guido’s song but it gives Daniel Day-Lewis to sing with pure desperation and the use of the projection gives a truly haunting image. Lastly we have Garda la Luna which is Sophia Loren’s song and through it I get a faint glimpse of why she’s so well regarded as an actress, it’s only a faint glimpse, she comes across as angelic, a perfect mother and the imagery of the candles and the church reinforces that image but she doesn’t come across as real. The song is just ok and does come across as a lullaby and metaphorically I suppose it works Guido’s in a tough situation so he retreats to his childhood where his mum can look after him. All the songs suffer from not being that memorable with the possible exception of be Italian but these songs just blur into each other and it’s a shame a lot of effort was put into the visuals for the song numbers and Rob Marshall’s direction comes across quite well, it just seems that the songs don’t justify the amount of time that was put into the visuals.

 

Next the special features which there are a ton so first of all there’s a ton of featurettes which don’t really say much we have one about Daniel Dae Lewis which talks about how amazing he is and them we have one about all the female stars which say how amazing they are and then we have one on the director about how amazing he is. There are some featurettes which have a little more content, one that tells you about the look, the dancers and the choreography of be Italian and cinema italiano. Then we have a making of cinema italiano which covered a lot of points that the one on the choreography talked about. Then we have three music videos, cinema italiano, take it all and unusual way which are all ok but again suffer from what the original songs suffered from weirdly though unusual way isn’t sung by Nicole Kidman, it’s sung by some random guy who’s a good singer, but it was Nicole’s song in the movie, I don’t know why this is but it’s still an ok song. So while there are lots of special features, they tend to blur into each other and don’t really reveal a lot about the film.

To conclude, this film tanked at the box office and had a mixed critical reception to say the least but I have to admit I enjoyed this film but it has an edge of disappointment, it’s kind of like when you receive a crap birthday present, you’re happy that they got you something but disappointed you didn’t get what you wanted and this film could have been a musical classic, it had the star power, a talented director, a big budget but it just misses all the opportunities to be truly great, the story lacks drama because we never get to know any of the female characters that have shaped his life and the songs for the most part lack any real drive because they’re just not memorable. I’ve never seen 8 ½ the film the musical was based on or the Broadway musical maybe they do a better job of honouring Italian cinema and musicals in general but sadly this movie falls short.