My thoughts on NINE.....

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 6:58am

I've finally seen the film. Visually it's very beautiful to look at and I was swept away by the location photography, but anyone can see that from the many beautiful production stills and scenes that are featured in the trailers, so that factor really wasn't that much of a surprise.

Marshall's gimmick of using the main's character's imagination, thoughts, dreams as an excuse for the musical numbers was already used in his 2002 film version of CHICAGO but in this film it just didn't work for me. So many of the songs just "got in the way". It's the first musical that I've seen where I just sat there waiting for the song to be over so the rest of the film could just move along.

All the numbers on a soundstage and they all come off as static. Dare I say I would have enjoyed the movie more as a straight dramatic film without all of the singing and dancing? So much of it was "throwaway" that if any one of the numbers would have been cut they would not have been missed.

The performances were uniformly good. Daniel Day Lewis surprised me as Guido. I had my doubts but he's such a chameleon. He totally immersed himself in the character. He's a lot darker as originally written but I have to say he's a shoo in for another Oscar nomination.

Judi Dench is delightful as his costume designer/confidante Lili LeFleur although I could have done without her Folies Bergere number. It was just, well, in my opinion, pointless.

Marion Cotillard broke my heart as Luisa Contini. I'm totally in love with this woman. She gives the best performance out of all the women and her performance of the new song, "Take It All" for me was one of the film's highlights. She deserves a nomination as well.

Kate Hudson as Stephanie. I'm on the fence on this one guys. I like Hudson a lot and her one musical number "Cinema Italiano" is one of my favorite tracks on the soundtrack but honestly it could have been lifted off from the film and not have been missed. It's a good song and it's a pretty dazzling number visually but it doesn't add or enhance anything to the film. It's just *there*.... Her character is relatively minor as well so I still don't *get* how her character holds such an important significance in Guido's life as opposed to say, his mother, Carla or Luisa.

Penelope Cruz....Is there anything that this woman CAN'T do. She was so much fun to watch in this role. She was a comic highlight. She brought a smile to my face every time she came on screen. She's a total "sexpot" in this movie and her A CALL FROM THE VATICAN is a showstopper. She totally nailed it.

Which brings me to....Nicole Kidman. Thankfully she wasn't in the film very much. I felt she was completely miscast in this. Oh sure she's beautiful but to me she isn't Claudia. She doesn't look like any famous Italian actress I've ever seen. She doesn't look Italian PERIOD. I also noticed they've changed her name to Jenssen or it it Jansen? To me Claudia is supposed to be a dark Italian beauty, one who represents the total vision of such famous Italian actresses like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida or Claudia Cardinale, who played the part in Fellini's original 8 1/2. Nicole Kidman doesn't embody any of these qualities, and after finally seeing and hearing her rendition of UNUSUAL WAY I dislike it even more. What's even more laughable is that Kidman hangs on for dear life to keep her Italian accent consistent and does a very poor job and once she opens her mouth to sing the accent is totally gone! Total misfire.

Sophia Loren as Guido's mother was joy to watch in every scene she was in. It was a privilege to see her for the first time on a movie theater screen. She's so beautiful and I loved her GUARDA LA LUNA.

Fergie as Saraghina in her one big number BE ITALIAN may very well be the film's SHOWSTOPPER. She was simply incredible.

Overall I feel the film was fine but as a musical film it fails in that, at least for me the songs got in the way of the story. I would have preferred to see this done as a straight dramatic film.

Day Lewis, Cotillard, Dench, Cruz, Loren and Fergie were the standouts for me.

I loved, loved, loved the musical underscoring for the picture and I loved the FINALE.

I totally *got* how in the OVERTURE all of the people in Guido's life are dressed in shades of black and in the FINALE they are all in white. Visually it said a lot and Marshall has a great eye for these kinds of details.

In my honest opinion it's not up there with CHICAGO or DREAMGIRLS but it's not a total miss, I will definitely buy it once it comes to out on blu ray but it's not a masterpiece either.

I wouldn't deter anyone from seeing it though.


Updated On: 12/8/09 at 06:58 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 7:24am

Gracias for the detailed review. I also have seen countless musicals where the musical numbers HAVE ruined the flow of a play or a film that could have done without them. I felt this about the Broadway musical adaptation of VICTOR/VICTORIA. Every time they went into a non-club performance song I just wished I could fast-forward and get on with the book scenes.

I'm seeing NINE tonight and I'm going with a completely open mind and expecting nothing at all from it. Here's hoping it 'works' for me.

[once a month]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 9:13am

I'm really looking forward to Finally seeing this version. As much as I loved the original with Raul Julio (saw it twice), I ADORED it with Antonio Banderas. The pix and film I've seen so far are dreamlike and so attractive.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 10:58am

If the concept is that Guido is imagining the songs as movie scenes, I don't understand why he couldn't just imagine them as full fledged, realistic looking movie scenes rather than having them take place on a movie set.

[D2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 11:17am

"...in the OVERTURE all of the people in Guido's life are dressed in shades of black and in the FINALE they are all in white."

That was how the original Tommy Tune production was staged - all the women wore black throughout the show (except for the lavish "Grand Canal" sequence) and then changed to all white versions of their costumes for the finale. Visually it was stunning.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 11:19am

I'm pretty sure thats a Swedish accent Kidman is going for, not Italian.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 11:50am

Please, God, don't let this be bad.

[Q]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 12:04pm

"Visually it was stunning."

And no one was more stunning than Anita Morris in that lace pantsuit!

[E.Davis]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 12:11pm

Claudia is Swedish I thought?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 1:20pm

"... ladies and gentlemen -- the original Carla Albanese from the original 1982 Broadway production of NINE: Miss Anita Morris!"



Updated On: 12/8/09 at 01:20 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 3:08pm

She was my dance teacher when I was 14. She almost made me straight.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 3:58pm

Brody, the characters' names are Carla Albanese and Claudia Nardi
Love the photos of Anita Morris!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:02pm

Gracias and I've corrected it. Between Carla and Claudia and Nardi and Albanese... it gets all too confusing for me sometimes.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:07pm

True, the songs don't advance the plot. There isn't much plot. There's a situation. I enjoyed every number and was glad to experience them all. The film ain't no masterpiece, but I had a great time.

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:39pm

Oh then that explains it. Claudia is now Swedish to justify the casting of Nicole Kidman. That also explains the change of last name. Her attempt at an accent wasn't very good and as many of you who have heard the soundtrack it is non-existent when she sings her song.

I will be seeing it again with some friends that will be in town for the holidays.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:40pm

For a masterpiece, see Fellini's 8 1/2.

[D2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:45pm

^^what Roscoe said^^

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 4:52pm

"So much of it was "throwaway" that if any one of the numbers would have been cut they would not have been missed. "


What does that say about the musical itself?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 5:01pm

Oh, Federico Fellini's 1963 masterpiece 8 1/2. Its been a huge influence for me since I was a kid -- from the fashion, the whole 'cinema italiano' essence, etc. To this day, every single sunglass I've owned has been inspired by the ones Marchello Mastroiani wears in this film. One exquisite gem of a film. Simply delicious.




Claudia Cardinale as Claudia:

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 8:26pm

What does that say about the musical itself?
It says NOTHING about the musical itself. Tommy Tune didn't resort to gimmicks (e.g. setting every number on a soundstage to illustrate them as Guido's "fantasies/daydreams"). The musical had more songs that fleshed out the characters, the storyline and were used as exposition.

Structurally this film is a completely different animal. The bulk of the original score was jettisoned and it now feels like one or two numbers were given to the characters to showcase them but because of this new structure the reasons for their singing really is non-existent.

As the film stands now any one of those numbers can easily be dropped and they wouldn't be missed. They're not INTEGRAL anymore to the story or even necessary for that matter and that's the big difference here.

So to compare the stage version and the film version at this point would be redundant since structurally they are completely different.

Let's not attribute the faults of this film to the much lauded Tony winning musical of 1982.

If you want to see a masterpiece please refer to Federico Fellini's classic 'Ocho E Mezzo' it's available for streaming online at NetFlix.

I take this film version with a veritable grain of salt. It borrows from both entities and really is a hodgepodge but in my opinion as a true MUSICAL FILM it fails.

It's not horrible by any means I just don't see this particular film being ranked among the TRUE CLASSICS: The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Singin' In The Rain...or even Grease for that matter.

It is what it is.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you BrodyFosse123 for those beautiful images of Fellini's classic. Ocho E Mezzo was a huge influence on me since I was a kid as well! From the Italian suits to Mastroianni's shades in the film. The whole 'look' influenced my way of dressing. I own my fair share of Italian suits and "skinny little ties" because of it. :)

And Claudia Cardinale? INCANDESCENT!!!!! Bella!

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 10:02pm

I saw NINE tonight and I actually liked it a lot. I had very little exposure to the musical and didn't know much going into it. Like everyone has said, visually it's beautiful. It was well shot. I thought everyone was spot on in the movie. I personally can't stand Fergie and I actually enjoyed her song. Honestly, I enjoyed Kate Hudson and her song the most. It had so much energy and excitement. Daniel Day-Lewis is marvelous as well as Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard.

I will say though the one thing that I didn't like was that Nicole Kidman looked old. I actually had to lean over to my friend and ask who it was because I was in disbelief.

I also agree with what everybody is saying about the Finale. Wow, that was a standout moment. It was well directed and a fantastic ending. All in all, I liked the movie a lot and I definitely think it is worth seeing

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 10:10pm

Is the film appropriate for a 12 year old? I'm not asking if they'll understand it, just if it's age-appropriate. There's no sexually explicit scenes besides "A Call from the Vatican"?

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 10:25pm

PiraguaGuy, "A Call from the Vatican" is very very racy. They definitely wanted something steamy and sexual. Aside from that though, there is nothing too bad. There are a few statements that are sexual but I doubt a 12 year old would really get grasp it.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 12/8/09 at 11:52pm

Marquise, I'm confused by your post. The show is set in a spa, yet many of the numbers don't take place in the spa. The film's numbers don't seem to serve a terribly different function to me just because most are placed, at least part of the time, in the soundstage. (Though I agree that this is a bit redundant and tamps down some of the energy, it didn't decimate their effect for me) And most of the songs that are gone were Guido's, no? Grand Canal is the film. Luisa's second song is replaced by another song. So at least for me no characters were harmed in the making of the film.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 12:45am

Also saw a screening night, and I really enjoyed it. I hope it's recognized in many areas this Oscar season.