Nine

Plot synopsis:
Nine tells the story of Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), a world famous film director as he confronts an epic mid-life crisis with both creative and personal problems. He must balance the many women of his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penélope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), an American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Fergie) and his mother (Sophia Loren).Guido Contini is a gifted Italian filmmaker who, at the age of fifty, has developed writer's block and urges all the women in his life, alive and dead, to help him with it - his mind wanders to his unfinished set, where dozens of dancers and the films leading ladies appear first Claudia Jenssen, his leading lady; then his wife Luisa; his mistress Carla; his costume designer and confidant Lilli; his beloved Mamma; Stephanie, an American fashion journalist from Vogue; and finally Saraghina, a prostitute from his childhood; ("Overture Delle Donne"). It is 1965, and at the famous Cinecittà movie studios, in Rome, 'everyone has questions for Signor Contini.'
At a press conference at the Hotel Excelsior on the Via Veneto, hes charming and colorful, avoiding any clear answer on his new movie - his ninth with producer, Dante, - tentatively entitled "Italia". Here he meets Stephanie, a Vogue fashion journalist, with whom he begins a flirtation. Escaping the biting probes of the reporters, he creates an elaborate fantasy, which becomes ("Guidos Song") where he explains that he wishes he was young and energetic once again, since his talent was better then.
He escapes the press conference, the reporters and his producer and arrives at the Bellavista Spa Hotel. While being examined by the doctor, he receives a call from Carla, his mistress ("A Call from the Vatican"). She describes her desire for him, as he excitedly listens on the other end. She arrives at the spa, expecting to share his suite, but is upset to find that shes staying in a shabby pensione by the train station. Meanwhile, Guido learns that a Cardinal is also staying at his hotel and tells the cardinals assistant to arrange a meeting.
However, Dante soon arrives at the spa and escorts Contini to a banquet hall where the entire production team is assembled to help him prepare for his film. He sees Lilli, his costume designer, and begs for inspiration, while criticizing the costume shes in the middle of making as not being something an Italian woman would wear. She reminds him of Luisas birthday the previous day and disagrees, saying that it reminds her of Folies Bergères, a Parisian music hall that featured showgirls, where she 'learnt her art' ("Folies Bergères").
The Cardinal agrees to meet him and advises him to lead a more moral life and look to his youth for inspiration. Guidos thoughts lead him to remembering Saraghina, a prostitute whom he and his friends paid to teach them the art of love and sex ("Be Italian"). Young Guido is caught by his school teachers/priests and whipped by his principal. He awakens on top of Carla, in a fit of anxiety and abruptly leaves to meet his production team for dinner. She wants to come, but he vehemently refuses, reminding her that they dont want to hurt either of their spouses.
At dinner, hes happily surprised to see Luisa, who has come at Lillis request. He embraces her and wishes her a happy birthday, promising that when she returns home, the house will be filled with flowers. She sits, and the young priest from earlier, who recognizes her as one of Guidos earlier actresses, joins the table. In song, Luisa explains how shes become a different woman to be Guidos wife, abandoning her acting career to be at his side ("My Husband Makes Movies"). She then notices Carla entering the restaurant and immediately leaves, saying she feels tired. Guido doesnt understand why and follows her, asking whats happened. She ignores him and when he returns to the restaurant and sees Carla, he finally understands. He demands that Carla go back to the pensione, and she leaves, heartbroken.
When Guido goes to the suite to try to smooth things over, Luisa refuses to listen. He goes to the lobby and meets Stephanie, who has tracked him down. Guido and Stephanie continue to flirt, and she describes her love for his movies and how fashionable he makes everything seem ("Cinema Italiano"). She leaves her room key in his pocket. While in her room, watching her undress, he realizes how much he cares for his wife and leaves. He returns to the suite and promises that hes done with cheating. Luisa embraces him, but hes called away to help Carla, whos overdosed on pills. The doctor comments how reckless and immoral Guido is, which Guido doesnt contest. He stays with Carla until her husband arrives. He returns to the hotel to find that Luisa has left and the crew has returned to Rome to begin filming.
His mother returns to him to advise him to repair his life ("Guarda La Luna"). He calls Luisa from the studio to beg her to come to the screen testing that evening. She hangs up without response. He arrives at the set to film shots of Claudia in her costumes. She does a few takes, but leaves, saying shell return when she reads the script. Guido agrees that thats fair and drives her away. Theyre followed by paparazzi, but he manages to lose them. Claudia realizes that there is no script and they take a walk. She asks him what he wants the film to be about and his description closely resembles his own ordeal: a man lost and in love with so many women. When they stop to rest, she tells him that she loves him but he is unable to love her ("Unusual Way"). Claudia tells him he doesn't see the real her, only the movie star he has created for the masses. She leaves.
He returns to review screen tests of new actresses and keeps looking to the back to see if Luisa has arrived. Hes relieved when she finally does. She watches and is heartbroken to see him say something in a clip to an actress that hed said to her when they first met. When everyone leaves, she explains to him that hes reminded her that shes not special, just another link in the chain and leaves him ("Take It All").
He finally comes to terms with his mental block ("I Cant Make This Movie"), realizing that hes lost everything: his wife, his muse, his talent, and has nothing to make the movie. He apologizes to the staff that there was never a movie, just an idea, and has the set destroyed before leaving Rome.
Two years later, Guido is in a café in Anguillara looking at an advertisement for a play starring Luisa. He waits outside the theatre that night, and watches her leave with a man. He walks with Lilli a few days later and tries to find more information about her. Lilli tells him that shes not going be to be the middle-man for them, implying that Luisa asks for him as well. She asks if he will ever make a movie again. He says that he wont because he wouldnt know what to make, except a movie about a man trying to win back his wife. Lilli says that thats a good start and the costumes wont be too bad either.
Guido returns to his element, passionate about a story once more. As he speaks with his actors about the scene, his nine-year-old self (Giuseppe Spitaleri) gathers the cast of Guidos life together. As Guido takes his place in the directors chair, the cast of Guido's life assemble on the scaffolding behind him, culminating with the arrival of his mother and nine-year-old Guido running to sit on the older Guidos lap ("Finale"). Luisa arrives without being seen and watches in that background, happy to see Guido back to his old self. She smiles as he is raised on a crane and calls, Action!
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Tags: pornographic, romantic, flashback

Review:
And the performance objective is relied upon Daniel Day Lewis who carries it off easily with the help of a great supporting cast like Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench.
His late mother (Sofia Loren), his wife Marion Cotillard, his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer and closest friend (Judi Dench), a fashion reporter (Kate Hudson), a childhood temptress Saraghina (Stacey "Fergie" Ferguson) and his leading lady (Nicole Kidman).Contini tries to escape the pressure looming overhead by the media, his producers, and his cast and crew.
The film can be reviewed in two aspects though, its performances and its story, so I'll dissect those.Performances: Let me first say that no actress delivered any less than they possibly could, and you could tell that the cast had worked their butts off during production.The Great- Marion Cotillard in particular delivered what is sure to be one of the most understated performances in recent memory, as well as delivering the two most powerful and emotional numbers in the show.
Most importantly, these three worked so well because they were interlinked in each other's story, and as a result their plot lines flowed well into each other.The OK- DDL and Sophia Loren were fine in their parts, simply filling out their roles and not seriously improving on or dragging down the movie in any way.The Misused- Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, and Fergie were all criminally misused, although fantastic when on the screen.
All three had stories that didn't synch with the movie, whether they be Kidman (who honestly needed a more fleshed out role that came in contact w/ other characters other than just Guido), Hudson (whose number really felt like it would have made more sense in the beginning of the movie), or Fergie ("Be Italian" felt shoehorned in and disconnected, and would have been a perfect opener or closing number).
Daniel Day-Lewis was very believable in his role as the immature child trapped inside the older man's body named Guido, as his life spins out of control as reality finally begins to catch up with him.The main problem that critics had with this movie was that it wasn't like Fredrico Fellini's 8 1/2 on which nine was based but they shouldn't be comparing the two.
The female cast includes his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer (Judi Dench), the woman from his childhood (Fergie), an American fashion designer (Kate Hudson), his muse (Nicole Kidman) and his mother (Sophia Loren).
Dench brings comic relief, having more scenes than any other of the actresses in the film, but also brings depth, playing a kind of a psychiatrist to the lead character, and also bringing a fantastic voice, for her musical number, which contains many chorus girls in feather boas, you think you're watching The Rockettes or something out of A Chorus Line, but for the song, it certainly works.
Rob Marshall, having directed Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha knows a thing or two about grand-scale production musical numbers and high-octane drama, and he brings it all to this film, although some of the songs are cut in a way that feels chaotic and rushed, but I think it doesn't hurt the movie at all.
The female cast includes his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer (Judi Dench), a prostitute from his childhood (Fergie), an American fashion designer (Kate Hudson), his muse (Nicole Kidman), and his mother (Sophia Loren).
The film stars a studded-cast of A-list celebrities including Academy Award Winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Oscar Nominee Kate Hudson, and Stacy Ferguson a.k.a. Fergie.
She has charisma in her speaking scenes and sort of upstages Day-Lewis much of the time, she eventually falls victim to a bland, insipid account.Sophia Loren, the beautiful veteran Italian actress plays Mamma as in Guido's Mom, and gives a presence of royalty that the film lacks.
Evaluate it on its on merits and not if it is "faithful" to a movie it is based upon.Secondly, if you don't like musicals, (especially stage musicals) or stunningly beautiful and sexy women, then maybe this will not be your cup of tea, and neither will your review be very helpful.That said, this movie was VERY stylishly filmed and edited, the music was GREAT, a la "broadway cabaret" (NOT "berlin" syle), the acting was dramatic and believable (from Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judy Dench, I expect no less) the women were awesome, the dancing and choreography was top notch.
It's well staged (no pun intended) and choreographed, and it doesn't feel claustrophobic, as so many movies adapted from plays do.Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a legendary film director whose most recent movies have been flops, and he's in the middle of a crisis on his latest, titled Italia: he has no script and no idea on how to proceed.As he struggles to keep the movie afloat - and while production begins - Guido must also juggle the affections and attentions of the various women in his life, from his mother (Sophia Loren) to his lover (Penelope Cruz) to his wife (Marion Cotillard) to his muse/leading lady (Nicole Kidman) to a reporter (Kate Hudson) to a long-ago crush (Stacey Ferguson) to his confidant (Dame Judi Dench).
If you can accept that this isn't meant to be a linear plot like Chicago (i.e., murderess gets her due), it's a lot easier to swallow the film itself.And amid all of the flash and glamour of the musical numbers is another treasure of a performance from Day-Lewis, who seemingly doesn't know how to be a bad actor.
That's particularly challenging given that most of the numbers - which serve as reflections of the characters' thoughts and feelings and the movie's themes - are done largely on surrealistic soundstages, as opposed to the on-location filming of the non-musical portions of the movie.No surprise, Day-Lewis is superb as the dashing but world-weary director (truly as much a celebrity as an artist), perfectly capturing the angst, frustration and conflict taking place deep within the soul of a creator who still has so much to say - despite his protestations to the contrary - but not the slightest clue of how to say it.
Interestingly, by tamping down some of Fellini's cinematic "distancing devices" and icy-cool tone, the movie actually allows us to relate with Guido on a more personal level and to care more deeply about his plight.Marion Cotillard replaces Anouk Aimee as Guido's devoted but long-suffering wife who knows about her husband's infidelity and who suspects he has become a filmmaker as a means both of avoiding having to deal with real life and of achieving personal forgiveness and redemption for himself; Penelope Cruz stars as Guido's flighty mistress, whose sudden appearance at the spa throws Guido's world into a tizzy; and Sophia Loren puts in an occasional appearance as Guido's recently deceased mother who gives him words of advice and comfort from beyond the grave.
Fergie's "Be Italian", Marion Cotillard's beauty and expressiveness, Judi Dench's lines and Day-Lewis make up for the previously mentioned flaws, though.Thus, if you feel like watching a musical, watch "Chicago".
According to critics, everything.Well, this movie is not perfect and it has flaws (especially in the screenplay and the directing), but it's far from being the cinematic crap many critics claimed.Visually contains some stunning elements like Dion Beebe's remarkable cinematography or Collen Atwood's gorgeous costume design and the recreation of 1960's Rome is simply astonishing.As i mentioned before the flaws of the movie come with Rob Marshall's flat direction in some parts of the movie and the screenplay that has several plot holes (like Hudson's character, who absolutely has no business in this movie) and can't integrate perfectly some of the musical numbers to the main plot and the fact that Guido is a character that some people see as hard to sympathize since some of his actions can be seen as misogynists.The MVP is the cast: all of them shine with what's given to them, Day-Lewis (who's often called as a miscast) captures perfectly the spirit of a filmmaker in trouble.
Before wasting your time+money, I'll break down the components of this cinegraphic nightmare: If you badly misinterpret and try to remake scenes from Fellini's La Dolce Vita and 8-1/2, with Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz", then miscast an intense, humorless British actor (Daniel Day Lewis) as a Marcello Mastrianni type character, sprinkle in lots of undeveloped 2-dimensional characters like in an overly-Botoxed expressionless Nicole Kidman (as his muse) chubby scuinty-eyed, talentless Kate Hudson as a flirty fashionista,...Kate Hudson (?!) had absolutely NO business even being in this movie.
They are played by Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Fergie, Sophia Loren and Marion Cotilard.A movie about writers block does not make for great entertainment.
The one thing that saves the movie are the performances of the impressive all star cast: Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis tries hard to "be Italian", Marion Cotillard is excellent in the role of his wife, as well as Penelope Cruz as his mistress.
His one escape; women such as his mistress (Penelope Cruz) and leading lady (Nicole Kidman), both of whom he is having affairs with to the chagrin of his wife (Marion Cotillard).Actresses flood this movie (Kate Hudson, Fergie, Judy Dench, and Sophia Loren also star), each getting a brief cameo and a song apiece, but it is only Cotillard who manages any emotional pull, playing the long-tortured wife.
For most, Fergie's "Be Italian" number is what they remember from this film, but for me it was Kate Hudson's "Cinema Italiano." Hudson demonstrates commitment to this sequence that is as professional as many seasoned musical performers, particularly her fluid dancing.Marion Cotillard plays the "angel" amid all these whores, and while it's not an enviable role, she absolutely shines with ambivalence of being married to a rogue.
The wife, Luisa, is estranged (Marion Cotillard), the mistress, Carla, goes crazy (Penelope Cruz), he exchanges banter with confidante, Lilli (the regal Dame Judi Dench), his superstar muse loses patience (Nicole Kidman), dead ma haunts around aimlessly (Sophia Loren), old mutton hooker sexes things up (Fergie) and new mutton Journo sexes things up (Kate Hudson) ...Now, I must make it clear I have not seen the original source material, Fellini's '8 1/2', nor have I seen the Broadway stage version, so this review is through the eyes of a Guido Virgin...and I know some are precious about this beloved character.
Uninspired, he heads to a resort where he mulls over his current loves: his wife (Marion Cotilard); his mistress (Penélope Cruz); his muse (Nicole Kidman); and a journalist (Kate Hudson), all of whom sing a little ditty about Guido.Based on a stage play inspired by the film 8 1/2, Nine is a shoddy substitute for Federico Fellini's atypical autobiography: the story is fractured, the songs are forgettable and the film-making is flawed.
For the seven women of his life – Lilli as mentioned, estranged wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), mistress and actress Carla (Penelope Cruz), Saraghina (Fergie), mother (Sophia Loren), reporter Stephanie (Kate Hudson) and his actress-muse-international star Claudia (Nicole Kidman), each were dedicated a number in which we learn an episode of Guido's life from the past and present, which will shape the course of his immediate future.
And given Rob Marshall's experience with musical adaptations on film, he does his best with these segments, each bringing out the personality of the women, and adding plenty of colour through lavish costumes and set designs.Daniel Day-Lewis continues to impress, no less of course, with his Italian faux-pas accent, as do the rest of the cast who play the various Italian characters here, and how he handles his character's tremendous weight that comes crashing down upon him, having to continuously run away from his problems, only to compound issues, especially when he's trying to reconcile with his wife.
Marion Cotillard hasn't impressed me much since her La Vie En Rose, and here she more than makes up for it with a powerful performance as the neglected wife still holding onto a sliver of hope to make up with Guido, only to find disappointment each time when she thought they could be on to something.Some of the actresses had really bit roles, like Fergie though she had an extended song sequence to perform in, Penelope Cruz as usual looked extremely sultry as the tragic mistress (with a dirty killer line!) and Nicole Kidman was just plain luminous in her role here (with a Bardot quality) that it's hard to imagine she did this role just 4 weeks after delivery.
Caught between the many women in his life: his wife ( Marion Cotillard), his mistress ( Penelope Cruz), a journalist( Kate Hudson), his muse(Nicole Kidman), a prostitute(Fergie) and even his mother(Sophia Lauren), he lacks inspiration and fails to come up with a script for his next movie.
With Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Fergie, Sophia Loren, Ricky Tognazzi.
The difference here is that Fellini's film is unbelievably deep and artistic, with an incomparable characterization and prodding of human concerns while the Broadway musical is simply the storyline with little or no focus on its characters and excelling only on the musical aspect.In the film, Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) goes about making a film which doesn't even have a script and, struggling to find a decent plot, consults a variety of women which have made a great impact in his life, including: Claudia (Nicole Kidman) a celebrated international star and Guido's muse; Luisa (Marion Cotillard) his supportive wife; Carla (Penélope Cruz) his obsessive lover; Lilli (Judi Dench) his best friend and costume designer to all his films; Stephanie (Kate Hudson) an American reporter who adores the ground he walks on; Saraghina (Fergie) an exhibitionist coquette whom he meets during his childhood; and, most importantly, his mother (Sophia Loren) whom he worships above all women but who is, unfortunately, deceased.You look at the cast and you can't help your mouth going agape at the amount of talent the film has brought together: all the women are beyond famous, five are Academy Award-winners (Kidman, Cotillard, Cruz, Dench and Loren), one is the queen of rom-coms (Hudson) and one is a Grammy-winner recording artist (Fergie, from the Black Eyed Peas).
Director Federico Fellini (1920-1993) was an authentic artist...something which is not precisely a compliment.His movies (at least the ones I have seen) seem to be based on impulse and whim, at the same time they have very few method and discipline.Some people admire that, but honestly, I am not one of them.The film 8½ may be his most personal work, because it seems as a celebration/apology/explanation of his creative processes, contemplated in the context of his imagination (or subconscious?), where at the same time he examines the influence that many women had in his life.46 years later, the movie Nine added ostentatious and over-designed musical numbers interpreted by famous actresses in their underwear to that combination.Well, to be fair, I have to say that in the 80's, composers Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston adapted 8½ to a musical in Broadway.And what Nine does is taking that musical to the big screen with the direction of Rob Marshall (whose previous incursion in the musical genre was with the highly overrated Chicago), and the result is a boring and very mediocre film.I found Nine to be excessively pretentious, and with tedious songs.What is more, I found the performance from the great Daniel Day-Lewis to be feigned and bland.Among the few elements I liked in this film are some performances from the female cast, where the members who stand out are Kate Hudson and Marion Cotillard.I think that a musical film has the obligation of having good songs and an at least functional story to work as a support from the songs.Nine fails in both fields, so I cannot recommend this tedious movie.If you wanna see an excellent musical film, I recommend you Moulin Rouge or Fame (1980)..
After seeing "Chicago" and absolutely loving it,i immediately started searching for Rob Marshall's other work.And then i stumbled upon "Nine".From the trailer it seemed quite promising,it looked great and the cast was really surprising.I'd never had thought i'd see Daniel Day-Lewis do a musical.He plays Guido Contini,this Italian movie director who is experiencing a writers/creative block.The movie follows his life and love interests.Gudio Contini wasn't really a likeable character nor did i really care what will happen to him.
The movie version of the musical "Nine" (based on Fellini's 8-1/2) was released in 2009 with a wonderful cast that included Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido, Marion Cotillard as his wife Luisa, Penelope Cruz as his mistress Carla, Kate Hudson as a reporter, Judy Dench as his costumer, Nicole Kidman as his muse Claudia, Fergie as a woman on the beach, and Sophia Loren as his mother.I am at a disadvantage because I didn't see the musical, but quite a bit was cut from the score, which is a shame.
The rest of the "all star" cast doesn't fair much better: Sophia Loren looks like an extra-terrestrial (no doubt from having one face-stretch too many), Daniel Day-Lewis is forgettable and is upstaged by his car (which, seriously, is the only interesting showpiece in the entire film), Nicole Kidman does practically nothing, Judy Dench is in her typical mother-hen role, and Fergie (who is apparently not the ex-member of the British Royal Family but a member of the Black Eyed Peas) I can't remember seeing.
The rest of the "all star" cast doesn't fair much better: Sophia Loren looks like an extra-terrestrial (no doubt from having one face-stretch too many), Daniel Day-Lewis is forgettable and is upstaged by his car (which, seriously, is the only interesting showpiece in the entire film), Nicole Kidman does practically nothing, Judy Dench is in her typical mother-hen role, and Fergie (who is apparently not the ex-member of the British Royal Family but a member of the Black Eyed Peas) I can't remember seeing.