NINE (Rob Marshall) It is 1960’s Rome. The Entertainment industry is all agog over the forthcoming production from renowned film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis). However, this project is shrouded in mystery. Although titled, Guido still remains cagey about the film, successfully fielding questions from reporters, but with good reason. The production is scheduled to begin in 10 days and he has no story or script, the problem being that he has run out of ideas, for which the film is then centred on his predicament. He turns to the women in his life for inspiration in order to understand what it is that motivates his creativity; his wife, Luisa (Marion Cotillard), mistress, Carla (Penelope Cruz), muse, Claudia (Nicole Kidman), costume designer Lili (Judi Dench), Saraghina, the prostitute who introduced him to sex at an early age and his mother (Sophia Loren). He even engineers a meeting with the cardinal in hope of finding some answers. The way the film is shot reflects the period quite well. The interior shots capture the 60’s feel, while the landscape shots are a testimony to the classic Italian-based films of that period. It is evenly paced, with various musical interludes that were used as a means of explaining each of the female characters. Although I could see the rationale for the musical segments, I found them pretty gratuitous. Unlike the norm, they served no real purpose, other than used as fillers. Admittedly I was tapping my toes for the opening two numbers, but after, the interludes became quite tedious, pretty uninspiring in fact as they lacked the energy required for cinema musicals. I watched it during an afternoon session, where some people actually walked out during the showing, even though the attendance was low, indicating that it required a specific audience. It is a film that will appeal to Theatre lovers. The publicity has definitely made use of the glamorous co-stars, which appears to have attracted the audience. I would still recommend people watch it as it will be down to individual taste. © K. Payne (2010)
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