Thank God I watched Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ before I watched Rob Marshall’s Nine or I would have been like “WTF, Rob Marshall?!” Okay, I’m still kind of like “WTF, Rob Marshall?!” Or perhaps, I should rather be like “WTF, you weirdos who tried to turn 8 ½ into a Broadway musical?!” Okay, and yes, I am just now finally getting around to seeing both of these movies – I am bit behind the times when it comes to current movies and tend to watch 20s and 30s movies more than 60s ones, so I’d never seen 8 ½ until now.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Nine was incredible – especially where the performances are concerned. But I guess having just watching 8 ½, I expected a more 1960s movie feel to Nine. I’m not sure why since Rob Marshall’s Chicago is my favorite movie ever and in no way is it like a 1920s movie, so I shouldn’t expect him to try to emulate the specific feel of 60s films. Nine definitely had 60s style in it (although not enough, in my opinion), but it was definitely a splashy, flashy 2000s movie. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – Chicago was the same way and I loved it. But for some reason, it just disappointed me that Nine didn’t have a more Fellini feel to it. Not that I should expect Rob Marshall to copy another director. I thank God every time I watch Chicago that he moved far, far away from Bob Fosse’s choreography (which I found to be boring and visually unappealing), so why should I want him to copy Fellini’s style? I have no answer to that, I guess. Other than that I really loved the look and feel of 8 ½ and I was hoping Nine would be the same way, but with today’s stars and added musical numbers.
I did think it was kind of funny how Rob Marshall did the same thing he did in Chicago, which was to make the musical numbers part of the lead character’s imagination. In Chicago, this made it being a musical more accessible to the masses of American movie audiences that might not be used to movie musicals – otherwise, they might be wondering why the entire cast repeatedly bursts spontaneously into song (I, of course, having watching numerous musicals would not have found this odd, but in 2002, musicals were definitely an unusual occurrence). In Nine, Rob Marshall’s technique makes sense because so much of 8 ½ is in Guido’s head, so of course he’d be imagining the musical numbers. I have not seen the Broadway musical Nine, so I don’t know if the musical numbers are also a part of Guido’s imagination or if the characters really do spontaneously break into them. I wonder if subsequent Rob Marshall musicals will also employ this musical-numbers-as-imagination technique.
The most amazing thing Nine has going for it, in my opinion, is its cast. I really love these actors and they did such an amazing job. It’s definitely interesting to try and compare the actors from Nine to their 8 ½ counterparts:
Guido - Marcello Mastroianni and Daniel Day Lewis
I really, really, really loved Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York and was pretty excited to see that he was Guido in Nine. I think he is a marvelous actor and like Mastroianni, got the totally overwhelmed, stressed, confused, womanizing director part down. A definite great casting choice for both movies!
Luisa – Anouk Aimée and Marion Cotillard
Another great casting choice for both movies. And I’m so happy they got another French actress to play the part of the wife! I am a big fan of both of these actresses – despite not normally watching 1960s movies, I have seen Anouk Aimée in Un Homme et une Femme and thought she was stunning. It would have been kind of cool to see Marion Cotillard in the glasses and 60s style clothing they had Anouk Aimée wear in 8 ½, though. I thought Marion’s performance of “Take it All” was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen!
Carla – Sandra Milo and Penélope Cruz
I think Penélope Cruz made the character of Carla more sympathetic. And way hotter - no offense to Sandra Milo, who is incredibly pretty, but her characterization of Carla made her kind of annoying and I never really saw what Guido could see in her. Penélope’s “A Call From the Vatican” is another super sexy number.
Guido’s mother - Giuditta Rissone and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren had a bigger part in Nine than Giuditta Rissone did in 8 ½ and it’s no wonder – Sophia Loren is a legend (although looking at IMDb tells me that Giuditta was no slouch in the movie department either). Having never seen the Broadway musical version of Nine, I don’t know if the mother has as big of a part in it as Sophia Loren does in the movie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Marshall was like “let’s put Sophia in here a LOT more – it’s freaking Sophia Loren!!”
There is no equivalent of Stephanie Necrophorus in 8 ½, although she does appear in the Broadway Musical Nine. I really like Kate Hudson, but I thought this part really stuck out like a sore thumb as soon as her character appeared on screen. Not because Kate herself sucked by any means, but because the whole part just seemed so forced – like it should not have been in there (but maybe I only think this because Stephanie is not a character in 8 ½). And while Kate Hudson’s singing and dancing in this movie is incredible, I did not enjoy her number, “Cinema Italiano” – it was almost Austin Powers-ish to me, like it was making fun of the 60s instead of emulating it. Rob Marshall had this number created just for Kate Hudson, but to me, it was the worst part of the film. I wish they’d gotten rid of the Stephanie character and made Kate play Madeleine, the French actress played by Madeleine Lebeau in 8 ½. I think she would have been adorable in that role.
Another character that did not appear in 8 ½. It totally makes sense that there is at least one person in Guido’s life that understands him and doesn’t judge him and that he can come to for help, guidance, and cigarettes. Although the absence of such a person in 8 ½ just compounds Guido’s misery – he has no one to turn to in his anguish and so he imagines all of these wacky circumstances, like shooting himself at the press conference. Judi Dench is always amazing and I truly loved her French accent in the “Folies Bergère” number.
Claudia - Claudia Cardinale and Nicole Kidman
In 8 ½, it’s not made clear that Claudia is not just a figment of Guido’s imagination until she shows up. In Nine, it’s made clear from the start that she is a famous actress. I kind of liked the mystery of not knowing who this woman at the fountain is in 8 ½, but conversely, it made it less confusing to just know that Claudia is Guido’s muse and constant star of his movies in Nine. I thought both actresses were appropriately ethereal, although Nicole Kidman makes the character more real, which I’m guessing was the point of the character in Nine, but not the point of the character in 8 ½. I was really happy when they had Nicole Kidman say the line about not knowing how to love since Claudia in 8 ½ repeats this phrase over and over again to emphasize this facet of Guido’s character.
Saraghina – Eddra Gale and Fergie
The Saraghina part was one of my favorites in 8 ½ - cute little Italian boys paying a prostitute to dance sexy for them. I liked that Saraghina was a big woman who was very sexy. And I know that Fergie had to gain 17 pounds for this role, but let me tell you – 17 pounds was not enough! She’s definitely bigger with that added weight, but not nearly big enough to be Saraghina (in my opinion at least). She just looks like your average woman today – not the big, busty mass of woman that was Saraghina in 8 ½. I always get really nitpicky about hair in movies and I just felt that her super kinky curly hair was not very 60s and wished they would have made her look more like Eddra Gale – with the big black mess of hair. With those complaints aside, I thought Fergie did an amazing job – she was sexy and trashy and the “Be Italian” number was stunning to watch (Rob Marshall really likes chair dancing)!
There were two scenes in 8 ½ that were not in Nine and I really, really wished they had been. I was seriously so looking forward to them and very disappointed that they were not in there. And again, not having seen the Broadway version of Nine, I have no idea if those scenes are even a part of it – so perhaps Rob Marshall had no intention of putting them in his movie. But I really, really wish he had!
One was the fantasy sequence where all of Guido’s women lived together in harmony with him. They were all there – his wife, his lover, Saraghina – everyone! He brought them presents and they cooked and cleaned for him and even brought in new girls for him. After a certain period of time, they have to go live upstairs (which was not acceptable to the showgirl who threw a fit when it was her time to go upstairs). I so looked forward to seeing Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, and Fergie in this scene! And I was kind of hoping Rob Marshall would have Mýa as “La negretta” (since she was in Chicago and because I love her). Alas, it was not to be!
The other scene was the ending of 8 ½, where all of the people in Guido’s life (past and present) gather at the launch pad set and a small band, led by Guido as a little boy plays music and they all hold hands and go about in a circle. I thought it was touching how Carla points out that she understands that Guido could never let any of them go and even more touching that Guido made sure to grab Luisa’s hand and be in the circle with her. It was silly and symbolic and I loved it. Of course, the story line differs a bit in Nine, so perhaps this ending would not have made as much sense, but I still wish they had found a way to put it in there.
Wow, I sure have rambled on about how I wish Nine could have been made differently! What a bitch! Who am I to question Rob Marshall’s genious? I guess I just had such very high, high hopes for this movie and it left me a little disappointed. Like I’ve said before, Chicago is my favorite movie ever and I thought Rob Marshall did an amazing job of turning a rather odd stage musical into an amazing movie musical – even incorporating parts of the original stage play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins. Chicago the movie is not really very similar to Chicago the musical, the 1927 silent film, or the play and yet I loved it so. So why am I so disappointed that Nine is so different from 8 ½? I don’t know. Other than to say it’s a simple fact that I preferred 8 ½. Ah well, we’re all entitled to our own opinions and what is a blog for except sharing one’s opinions? I usually don’t like sharing my negative opinions because I think it’s rude and unnecessary (unless we’re talking constructive criticism, which absolutely no part of the above post has been). But I was so amped on writing a blog post comparing Nine to 8 ½ (before actually watching the former) that I had a tentative (and horrible) title of “Everything Rob Marshall Touches Turns to Gold!” planned for it. So I couldn’t disappoint myself by not writing the blog post.
Bitching aside, I did enjoy the movie. Had I not watched 8 ½ first, I probably would not have found as much to complain about in Nine, but then again, I’d be truly, truly confused by the plot of Nine, which is weird because technically 8 ½ is more confusing because it's so dream like and you're never 100% sure that what you're seeing is really happening - but I still think Nine would have confused me. In any case, I do enjoy the work of both directors, independent of each other and will continue to do so (although I might have to punch Rob Marshall if he really does remake The Thin Man - you don't mess w/ William Powell and Myrna Loy - not even if Johnny Depp plays Nick). :)
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