Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.
Director: Rob Marshall
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Fergie.
John DeLuca ... choreographer
Denise Faye ... associate choreographer
Tara Nicole Hughes ... associate choreographer
Rob Marshall ... choreographer
Joey Pizzi ... associate choreographer
24 songs in the Soundtracks, 13 Written by Maury Yeston.
Based on B'way musical play Nine (1982-4, revival 2003), which was based on the Fellini film 8½ (1963), which I saw long ago & rated 6.
Rated 4 on 2014-06-03 (retired 6-1) with 33 other films; no idea how so many ratings occurred on 1 day without some notation. Some of my upping the rating today is from watching the featurettes and listening to the c.track.
I'm less severe today, but I don't like this. I don't have any desire to feel sorry for this director (DDL), who has made decadent choices over and over. Now the consequences are all falling at once, but they are belong to him. And the character is feeling very sorry for himself.
Perhaps if DDL adopted some other attitude. In 8½, RM says it ends with M.Mastroianni claiming this is who he is and you must accept him. Here he will make a film about his situation. Will he alter his destructively decadent behavior in future?
The production numbers are big and sort of interesting, but I'd rather watch All That Jazz (1979) or Chicago (2002). Some numbers here don't really feel like they're building the story. For instance, why is Saraghina important to his deciding to make a film about a man who wants to win back his wife? She was a vivid, memorable vignette in the original 8½ and here, but this "memory" just tells me that he has voluntarily objectified women since childhood. So why should I have sympathy for him?
An appropriate film for Harvey Weinstein.
Rated 5.8 (40,499)
Weinstein, dir. Marshall; 6-
