Nine
I’ll be honest, I was very much expecting the worst out of “Nine,” based on the 1982 musical that was itself inspired by Federico Fellini’s landmark “8 1/2.” There are times when my worst fears for the film were realized, as in Rob Marshall’s film adaptation, the show looks to have taken the story and ideas of Fellini’s film, and simply made it eye candy.
However, screenwriters Michael Tolkin and the late Anthony Minghella are smarter than that, and there are several moments when the film takes left-turns from the passions explored in Fellini’s most personal film, and makes it into a fascinating character study of filmmaker Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis, pulling the role off better than I expected), who is getting ready to start his ninth film, but has creative block. His love life, he’s notoriously womanizing despite his marriage to the nonetheless loving Luisa (the dazzling Marion Cotillard in the film’s best performance and richest character), isn’t helping matters any, and throughout the film we see his interactions with his leading lady (Nicole Kidman, superb in her big scene), his mistress (Oscar nominee Penelope Cruz), his costume designer (Dame Judi Dench), his mother (the legend Sophia Loren, radiant), and a fantasy woman from his past (Fergie).
That’s basically where the similarities with Fellini’s film, which was audacious and emotionally-rich in its’ approach to these themes, ends. There are some terrific numbers, and some really good performances, but honestly, you watch “Nine” thinking more about Fellini’s film than you do the one you’re watching. If you haven’t yet seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend making a point of doing so, just to see what these ideas look like in the hands of a master who lived through such trials, and turns turmoil into enduring art.
