Nine – sexy, but clumsy

Courtesy of imdb.com

This movie has every possible ingredient of an acclaimed cinematographic masterpiece: director Rob Marshall, the mastermind behind critically acclaimed Memoirs of a Geisha and Chicago; an ensemble of remarkable actors; and its script is a remake of a Federico Felinni classic. So what went wrong?

Even if all the ingredients are of top-notch quality, assembling them together proved to be a bit complicated and the final result is a mediocre musical that will be forgotten as soon as it leaves the cinemas. That does not mean it is not a good movie, just that it is not a memorable one.

In a nutshell, Nine is a movie about a guy making a movie about making a movie. Sounds strange? It is perhaps one of the most well-known rules in literary fiction – never write about your struggles as an author, 99 percent of the times it will result in a failure – and Nine fails on multiple fronts. It fails at casting Daniel Day Louis in the role once played by Marcello Mastroianni – a troubled filmmaker dealing with writer’s block and finding consolation in his many love affairs that ultimately prove unsuccessful.

It all starts off with a press conference that Guido Contini (Lewis) runs away from, followed by the clichéic Vespa-mounted paparazzi pursuing him. He ends up in a spa resort far away from Rome where he realizes he only has ten days before he has to finish the script for his much-anticipated new movie, called Italia, that will feature a famous actress Claudia Nardi (Nicole Kidman). While in the hotel, he is visited by one of his mistresses, Carla, played by ravishing Penelope Cruz, while lying to his wife (Marion Cotillard) about the affair, and having frequent dreams about his deceased mother (Sophia Loren) who always believed in him.

Nine does not have any memorable songs, though it is a musical. It fails to introduce Kate Hudson into a role as a journalist for Vogue that does not even half fit her, singing a song that does not connect with the rest of the movie in any possible way.

Some of the cast members are indeed jewels of the industry, but relying only on them proved to be a bit tricky, as not even bringing Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard and Fergie could save the story.

Rob Marshall does some good things by keeping the story in the 1960’s, as Fellini intended to, and does cast the sexiest young actresses in the business as Guido Contini’s mistresses. Cotillard seems to be the only actress in control of her songs, without seeming too theatrical, and busty Fergie’s burlesque interpretation of Be Italian is a great work in terms of choreography. Judi Dench is breath-taking when singing Frolie Berge and can master a Parisian song pattern.

Sophia Loren is the only character with a true Italian accent in the entire movie, which makes me wonder if Director Marshall forgot about the scores of good contemporary actors Italy has produced recently. Loren has one of the most memorable appearances in years in this role, and right before the movie ends her presence on top of stage set overlooking everybody else is probabily the only heart-stopping sequence of Nine. Nevertheless, the way most of the elements integrate into the movie is clumsy, and there are moments when songs pop out of nowhere, in no direct connection with the movie, like Kate Hudson’s Cinema Italiano that seems to have been shot on a super-posh, modern set, as opposed to the late 60’s sets used in the rest of the movie.

Not to say that there aren’t great features to Nine – editing and shooting are remarkable and every single scene is filmed to perfection. The black and white sequences are exquisite, and one stands out – Judi Dench’s song, while she is filmed in black and white, and as the song progresses and its beat increases, spots of color start appearing, all ending up with a grandiose cabaret show in full color.

If you like musicals, go see Nine. It will please you, it will make you smile, make you sad, bring many emotions to the surface – but do not expect it to be the best musical you have ever seen. Unfortunately, even great directors make mistakes, and amazing casts cannot save a poor production. Whoever said that the musical is dead was completely wrong, however Nine is not exactly the movie to be used as a counter-argument to that accusation.