Just kidding. Only watch NINE.
So Cats happened. It happened. The movie arrived, bringing with it every horrible notion skeptics and naysayers were predicting, letting none of them down. The fallout has been breathtakingly relentless with tweets featuring selected quotes from various movie reviews lambasting the film now serving as an unexpected form of entertainment for many. I’m sure everyone associated with Cats would prefer to just imagine they had never gone anywhere near the project. Unfortunately for them, that just isn’t possible.
If there’s one cast member who is especially awful in the movie (to be fair, no one save for Jennifer Hudson is actually up to the role he/she is given), but is saved thanks to their legendary status, it’s the great Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy; the wise cat who presides over all the others and must decide which one of them is worthy of a new life. Forced to speak/sing for longer than she should have and sporting a fur coat that has to weigh more than she does, Dench has rarely been so unwatchable on screen. While her unmatched talent affords her some moments of liveliness and dignity, the part is far from what an actress of her stature deserves.
It isn’t that musicals aren’t right for Dench. It’s just that this musical isn’t right for Dench…or anyone else for that matter. The truth is that Dench did in fact bring her talents to another film adaptation of a celebrated Broadway musical some years back, soaring as one of a number of big names in the touching and spectacular, if oft-forgotten, musical Nine.
Directed by Rob Marshall (in his first big musical directing turn since 2002’s Chicago), Nine focused on celebrated 1960s movie director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis); Italy’s finest filmmaker who seems to be going through a personal and creative crisis of sorts, preventing him from making his ninth film. Adding to his troubles are the complex relationships he has with the women in his life, including his wife Louisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer Lilli (Dench), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), American journalist Stephanie (Kate Hudson), a prostitute from his past named Saraghina (Fergie) and the ghost of his mother (Sophia Loren).
Much of the appeal surrounding Nine has to do with the endless amounts of glamour the film offers up. All of the costumes and set designs help make each moment the kind of lavish affair that the movie’s marketing promises, delivering just what fans of the genre crave. Each woman and her respective dancers are draped in the kind of fun, elegant finery that elevates both her performance and the song she’s singing. Meanwhile, Marshall does a tremendous job distinguishing between the dreamy, escapist fantasy world of each of the numbers, the rather melancholic nature of the black and white flashback scenes and the dizzying, chic normalcy of 1960s real-world Rome as present-day Guido knows it to be. As for the numbers themselves, there’s enough of them to create the kind of Italian musical extravaganza needed for Nine to function, even if they’re not the most conventional when it comes to traditional show tunes. Still, the songs of Nine are pure gems. “Guido’s Song” is a beyond-perfect introduction to the film’s protagonist, while Louisa’s big number, “My Husband Makes Movies,” is a true operatic showstopper as is the rousing and hypnotic “Be Italian,” which grabs ahold of the audience from the opening bars and never lets go.
But it’s the heart of what Nine is about which makes it a true cinematic experience. Loosely based on famed director Federico Felini’s masterwork 8 ½, the film (and the original stage musical) are tributes; not only to the great director himself, but to the conflicted artist who can’t understand why he’s conflicted. There’s a deep personal story at Nine’s core, which deals a lot with various themes of everything from longing, to redemption. For all the glitz and gorgeousness, this is the story of a man assessing the life he’s lived, the work he’s made and whether or not he has either one left within him anymore. Nine does a great job illustrating Guido’s emotionally fragile state of mind through his childhood recollections and his present-day conversations with his deceased mother. The way all of the musical numbers take place on the grand-scale movie set (built for the film he hasn’t even written yet) is the perfect backdrop for Guido to wrestle with and ponder the various stages of his existence and what each woman has contributed to his life along the way. The movie’s subtext may go deeper (and dare I say, a bit existential) than most splashy musicals do, but Nine knows how balance the sumptuous with the ponderous to the utmost effect.
Nine is also the rare example of a movie musical where the entire cast is at their best. Naturally, some are better singers than others, but everyone comes alive here whether it be delivering a monologue or belting out anyone of the magnificent songs. Day-Lewis eases up a bit playing Guido, showing a lighter side that most wouldn’t have imagined possible. Yet his ability to tap into the character’s emotional and creative block gives Nine the kind of special weight it deserves. The same can be said for the women of Nine, each of whom makes their character feel like an individual woman with her own unique brand of intoxication. This is especially true of Dench, who adds a groundedness quite similar to that of her male lead and Cotillard, who mixes serenity and a quiet ferocity to remarkable effect. However it’s Cruz who has the richest role out of all the women, bringing forth an energy that rivals Day-Lewis’s and a poignancy that all but transforms the movie.
Expectations couldn’t have been higher when it came to the movie’s release, with many expecting/demanding a film just as exhilarating and dynamic as Chicago. Yet the two properties were as night and day as could possibly be as was the audience and critical response to Nine. The complaints mounted with the casting, song quality and un-relatability of the film’s story being thrown into question, resulting in a critical and financial bomb. For what it was worth, the film did receive a handful of well-deserved Oscar nominations, including one for Cruz’s superb work and another in the Best Original Song category for the tellingly provocative “Take it All.”
Despite stemming from an iconic title in Italian cinema which was successfully adapted for the musical stage and revived more than a decade later to greater acclaim before making it to the big screen, Nine still doesn’t fully enjoy the kind of reputation it deserves. Even a decade following the movie’s release, the visual pleasures and emotional joys of Nine, including its music, style and overall romantic nature, remains uncelebrated as ever. Sure, there’s no denying that the movie is miles away from the tone and scope of its original source material. Yet the essence and effect of this story which explores the conflicted, celebrated artist still retains its power. When the movie reaches is outstanding finale, both sides come alive as flair and panache find themselves side by side with tearful magical realism and touching self-reflection.