“Nine”
Reviewed 17 November 2009 by Ted Faraone
4 ½ stars out of five: $11.50 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.50.
SIMPLY SPECTACULAR
“Otto e Mezzo” (8 ½) the 1963 film directed by Federico Fellini on which the Broadway musical “Nine” is based is a cinematic icon. The Broadway play was a huge hit in the 1990s. That’s a tough bar to hit, but the movie “Nine” with (of all people) Daniel Day-Lewis in the starring role, rises to the challenge.
The original starred Marcello Mastroianni as the troubled director, Claudia Cardinale as “Claudia,” his muse, and the incomparable Anouk Aimee (“A Man and a Woman” and its sequel) as Luisa, the director’s wife. “Nine” is seemingly preposterously cast. But performances belie the casting. Irishman Day-Lewis simply projects an Italian persona as blocked wirter/director Guido Contini. Nicole Kidman shines in her musical numbers as Claudia, and Marion Cotillard (Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose”) is utterly believable as Contini’s disgruntled wife.
Part of pic’s charm is seeing non singing, non dancing thesps such as Day-Lewis rise to the occasion. We all know Cotillard can sing but dance is a challenge for her, and she nails it. Even Day-Lewis manages some convincing steps. Production numbers all score. There is hardly a miss in this latest effort from helmer Rob Marshall. And those of us who remember
Some exteriors were shot at Cinecitta’s stage five, Felliini’s workplace. Production considerations required interiors to be shot in
“Nine”is packed with star power. Dame Judi Dench is the costume designer and Contini’s best friend. Penelope Cruz is his mistress. And most importantly, Sofia Loren dominates the screen as Contini’s mother. She is perhaps the only cast member who actually made movies at Cinecitta.
Plot is fairly simple. Director Contini has followed a slew of hits with a few flops. He announces his latest pic to the press, but neatly skates around the fact that he has not written a word of the screenplay. The carpenters, costume designer and producer are hard at work. Screen tests are in progress. The bankers send a spy.
Much of pic’s entertainment takes place in Contini’s mind. His daydreams set up the musical numbers. Mother is dead, but she is there in his mind. And what a joy it is to see Sofia Loren running on all eight cylinders. Said entertainment concerns Contini’s relationships with the women in his life… an understanding of living peculiar to Italian and French men, who are defined by their women. Your critic has much to say for such an outlook.
Pic’s major subplot is the triangle between Day Lewis, Cruz, and Cotillard. An utterly Italian settlement beckons, to which Americans would do well to pay attention. If only the example of Francois Mitterand’s funeral, where his wife Danielle, his mistress, and their daughter sat together, could be followed across the pond!
Contini suffers what seems to be a breakdown and hides from the world for a while until making a comeback, the goal of which is to regain his wife. The end is equivocal. Auds can impute whatever they want.
Pic functions on so many levels. It’s a tour-de-force for Day-Lewis who is on screen for about 75% of the time. Ditto for Dench who nails her part. Kidman, Cruz, and Kate Hudson (as a journalist who hits on Day-Lewis) all shine.
But ultimately, “Nine” owes a big debt to Francois Truffault. It’s the reverse of “Day for Night (La Nuite Americaine)” in that it’s the unmaking rather than the making of a movie. (There is also a fabulous line uttered by Dench which recalls a scene in “Day for Night” where Truffault’s director has to select props. It’s a “yes” or “no” question.) And Guido Contini would have much in common with Bertrand Morane (Charles Denner) of “L’Homme qui Aimait Les Femmes (The Man who Loved Women)”.
Tech credits excel. One or two lines are difficult to hear, but auds can impute from the context. Its roughly two hour run time virtually flies by.
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