An Italian filmmaker (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) with writer’s block reflects on his relationships with women in Nine.
Rob Marshall’s Nine is a classic case of focusing on style over substance. In adapting the Broadway musical for the movie screen, the director of Memoirs of a Geisha and Chicago forgot two essential ingredients for his otherwise visually stunning film: plot and character development.
Nine tells the simplistic story of an Italian director facing a midlife crisis. As Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood) struggles to write the script for his latest film, he comes across all the women who have shaped his life. With a lack of vision for his project, Contini becomes engrossed in a world where reality and fantasy are indistinguishable.
The film depicts the wanderings of Contini’s mind as it is filled with hallucinations and memories of his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard, Public Enemies), his mistress (Penélope Cruz, Broken Embraces) and his mother (Sophia Loren, Too Much Romance … It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers). With his marriage failing and the pressure to write a script mounting, Contini attempts to escape from his responsibilities by hiding at a Venice hotel.
However, he is pursued by his producer and crew, including his costume designer (Judi Dench, Rage). His muse, the actress Claudia Jenssen (Nicole Kidman, Australia), and a fashion journalist (Kate Hudson, Bride Wars) enter his life, but they are momentary distractions. His wife and producer attempt to disconnect Contini from his fantasies and draw him back to the real world. Contini, though, fails to acknowledge their efforts, and his life comes to a halt.
Flitting back and forth between reality and his illusionary world, Contini is immersed in song and dance with women in corsets and heels. And from here, Nine fails to progress.
Released in time for the awards season, Nine tries its best to convince its audience it is a great film with a star-studded cast and flamboyant choreography and art direction. There is no doubt Nine will garner some accolades for its extraordinary visuals in early 2010, but they are not enough to sustain a film so poorly directed and so lifeless.
With a lack of structure and continuity, Nine fails to provide any insight into Contini’s character or motivations. All the audience sees are the hallucinations of a man that are confusing rather than revealing. As the film transitions between dreams and reality, it is difficult to forge a personal connection to the characters.
Although Day-Lewis, who played a rugged American oilman in his last film, turns in a convincing portrayal of Contini — complete with a perfect Italian accent — none of the female leads are appealing. To understand Contini, his women must be understood, but Marshall renders them as caricatures of temptation and love, devoid of any emotion.
Contini’s women are truly ghosts. While the pale-skinned Kidman floats around the screen with minimal dialogue, Loren’s maternal character materializes at various points, trying to convey some sort of pretentious dignity. On the other hand, Hudson and Fergie (Grindhouse) participate in rousing numbers such as “Cinema Italiano” and “Be Italian,” but they are given very little chance to display their acting abilities (or lack thereof).
Cotillard provided the most sincere performance, putting great effort into conveying the sentiments of Contini’s devastated wife. At some points, her poignancy and emotional distress provide a vague explanation for why a man like Contini may be so charming and why all the women are attracted to him. But these are just fleeting moments that are never flushed out.
When Nine comes to a close, the ending seems to be something that was scrapped together once Marshall realized he had run out of songs and dance numbers. After a long dalliance, the film hastily concludes, leaving the audience with nothing tangible to appreciate.
Nine is a visually brilliant yet clumsy performance. Superficially, the film is impressive, but at its core, there is only emptiness.
diversions@umdbk.com
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
