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©-DR-NINE de Rob Marshall (2009) p31
19/01/2014 11:07
Nine is not your everyday musical
Author: jgregg42 from United States
26 December 2009
What do I know about musicals? From my limited experience of musicals, ("Singing in the Rain," "Guys and Dolls," "The Blues Brothers" {yes, it is considered a musical comedy} and "Legally Blonde the Musical") here is the basic linear format as I see they are written in — opening dialogue, singing, more dialogue, more singing, even more dialogue and then a grand finale. Then for a week after that, you have the songs stuck in your head. Director Rob Marshall chose not to follow the old standby format through to the end. His actions placed "Nine" in a different category from the standard musical.
The movie focuses on Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as a famous movie director in Italy in 1965. He is having troubles developing his next movie. More so, he hasn't written a script. Even more so, he is having trouble even coming up with an idea for his movie. He had successful movies in the years past but now we are watching him struggle after a few major flops.
In his journey to make his next movie, he is having marital problems along with mistress problems. Add in Freudian issues with his deceased mother and his working relationship with his costume designer and his muse. Don't forget to include yet another potential affair outside of the one he is having with his mistress, plus there's the memory of an erotic lady on a beach from his youth (that's seven women total for those of you who are keeping score at home).
You know what is going to make this movie stand out from the crowd? It is the realistic singing by the actors. They are actors first and singers second (except for maybe Fergie who plays the erotic lady from Guido's youth but she didn't say much in the film, come to think of it I think she only sang). Since I don't know much about musicals and even less about how to sing properly, I could grasp the singing. The tunes they sang aren't the kind you are going to be singing on the way home because a lot of the songs were simply narrated lines being sung. When a character wanted to express his or her thoughts, they would sing their lines.
Maybe that's what they do in all musicals — like I said my experience here is limited.The women. Oh, the women. They all performed wonderfully, and I don't just mean the singing. The female cast includes his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer (Judi Dench), the woman from his childhood (Fergie), an American fashion designer (Kate Hudson), his muse (Nicole Kidman) and his mother (Sophia Loren). They brought emotion and life to the story through their singing and their lustful yet sensual moves. I would also like to note, as a guy, the women were the reason why I kept my attention focused for almost 2 hours. I don't even watch a football game this intensely.
Should you see this movie? Yes. But, don't go in expecting a musical you can sing along with or a movie that will leave you feeling giddy with love. It dealt with some very real issues about infidelity. I will say this, though, after seeing this movie I do know a little more about musicals. And, that's a good thing.
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©-DR-NINE de Rob Marshall (2009) p32
19/01/2014 11:09
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©-DR-NINE de Rob Marshall (2009) p33
19/01/2014 11:11
Trivia
The film's cast has an impressive collective Academy Award history with six Academy Award winners and one additional nominee:
§
•Nicole Kidman was awarded for The Hours (2002), and was nominated in 2002
for her role in Moulin Rouge! (2001).
•Daniel Day-Lewis is a two time winner for the films My Left Foot (1989) and There Will Be Blood (2007),
as well as being nominated for both Au nom du père (1993)and Gangs of New York (2002).
•Judi Dench won a supporting actress Oscar in 1999 for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and has been nominated for both supporting and leading roles on another five occasions for La dame de Windsor (1997), Le chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Madame Henderson présente (2005) and Chronique d'un scandale (2006).
•Sophia Loren won her first award in 1962 for La ciociara (1960) and has since been nominated once more for Mariage à l'italienne (1964) and also received an Honorary Award in 1991.
•Marion Cotillard was awarded in 2008 for La môme (2007).
•Penélope Cruz was awarded in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona(2008) and was nominated for Volver (2006
•'Kate Hudson' was nominated for her supporting role in Presque célèbre (2000).
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The crew has also been recognized by the Academy:
•Director Rob Marshall was nominated for Chicago (2002).
•Writer Michael Tolkin was nominated for The Player (1992).
•Writer Anthony Minghella has been nominated twice for other adaptations: forLe patient anglais (1996) for which he also won Best Director, and later for Le talentueux Mr Ripley (1999).
•Cinematographer Dion Beebe was nominated for Chicago (2002), and later won the award for Mémoires d'une geisha (2005), both directed by Rob Marshall.
-Production designer John Myhre was awarded for Chicago (2002)
and Mémoires d'une geisha (2005) and nominated for Elizabeth (1998) and Dreamgirls (2006).
•Set decorator Gordon Sim was awarded for Chicago (2002).
•Make up and hair designer Peter King won for Best Makeup in 2004 for Le seigneur des anneaux - Le retour du roi (2003).
•Well-renowned producer Harvey Weinstein has an Academy Award from when Shakespeare in Love (1998) won Best Picture in 1999. He also produced Gangs of New York (2002) which was nominated for Best Picture in 2003.
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The performance lengths of all 7 of the ladies:
•Marion Cotillard: 17 Minutes & 16 Seconds
•Penelope Cruz: 12 Minutes & 26 Seconds
•Judi Dench: 11 Minutes & 28 Seconds
•Nicole Kidman: 10 Minutes & 16 Seconds
•Kate Hudson: 8 Minutes & 41 Seconds
•Fergie: 7 Minutes & 39 Seconds
•Sophia Loren: 4 Minutes & 11 Seconds
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©-DR-NINE de Rob Marshall p34
19/01/2014 11:16
Trivia
Showing all 28 items
After Catherine Zeta-Jones left the project, actresses Amy Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anne Hathaway were considered for the part of Claudia.
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-Catherine Zeta-Jones was set to play Claudia but dropped out during negotiations. Jones wanted the role of Claudia enlarged. When Marshall refused, Jones left the project.
-Anne Hathaway and Sienna Miller both auditioned for the role of Stephanie Necrophuros, a part which eventually went to Kate Hudson.
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-Katie Holmes was keen on Luisa's part. She auditioned, but Rob Marshall felt she was not the better choice, choosing Marion Cotillard instead.
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-Before Nicole Kidman was cast as Claudia, immediately after Catherine Zeta-Jones turned down the part, both Demi Moore and Juliette Binoche were auditioned forthat role.
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-Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench had previously worked together onstage in a 1989 production of "Hamlet", as Hamlet and Gertrude. Day-Lewis infamously brokedown during a scene and abruptly left the stage, never to return. Before filming began for "Nine", Day-Lewis sent Dench a note saying, "I promise not to run out on you this time."
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-The original Broadway musical opened May 9, 1982 at the 46th Street Theater and ran for 729 performances with Raul Julia as Guido. It won five Tony awards,including Best Musical and Best Featured Actress. The latest Broadway production, starring Antonio Banderas as Guido, opened on Apr 10, 2003 at the EugeneO'Neill Theatre and ran for 283 performances. It won two Tonys: Best Revival of a Musical and Best Featured Actress. Banderas turned down the chance to reprise his role as Guido in the film version.(Ouf !!!)
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-Renée Zellweger was the first choice for Carla. After several auditions, Penélope Cruz took the role.
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-Javier Bardem turned down the role of Guido, being replaced by Daniel Day-Lewis. Both won acting Oscars the same night: Bardem in the supporting category (forNo country for old men - Non, ce pays n'est pas pour le vieil homme (2007)) and Day-Lewis in the leading one (for There Will Be Blood (2007)), as did Day-Lewis's co star, Marion Cotillard (Actress in a Leading Role for La môme (2007)). Catherine Zeta-Jones turned down the role of Claudia, being replaced by Nicole Kidman.Both also won acting Oscars the same night: Zeta-Jones in the supporting category (for Chicago) and Kidman in the leading one (for The Hours).
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-Nicole Kidman began rehearsals just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter.
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-Kate Hudson mentioned in an interview with Oprah in November 2009 that it took about six weeks to rehearse her number "Cinema Italiano", and about 2 days tofilm. She also said that making the movie was "maybe [her] best experience to date".
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-The number Nine refers to Fellini's 8 1/2, which was his ninth movie (he directed 7 on his own and co-directed one other). Also, the number 9 refers to the age young Guido is in the flashback.
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-Pre-production had to be delayed due to the writer's strike in 2007/08.
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-Javier Bardem was set to star as Guido Contini, but dropped out due to exhaustion. He decided to take a full year off to recuperate.
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-George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas (who took Guido's role in 2003 Broadway revival, and was nominated for a 'Tony Award') were considered as possible Guido.
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-This is one of four movies released in 2009 which used the number nine in its title. The other three are Numéro 9 (2009), Le sens de la vie pour 9.99$ (2008) and District 9 (2009).
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-The title song "Nine" was cut from the movie.
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-Original release date of the movie was November 2nd, 2009. The Weinstein Company moved it to December 18th, 2009.
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-One of the more famous songs "Only With You" was cut. It is featured in most collections of music for low voices.
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-Guido's license plate is '4329'. Adding all of the numbers together equals 18. Adding those digits together (1 + 8) equals 9, the title of the movie.
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-When Judi Dench was cast, her manager (who also manages Daniel Day-Lewis) sent the script to him, and he in turn called up the director Rob Marshall. Marshall stated in an interview that he thinks Day Lewis is the "best" actor around, and that he never considered offering him the part because he didn't think he would take it. Day Lewis himself was keen to take a break after his last film, but said he knew that making the film would be an unbelievable experience.
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-In the hot springs, when Guido is confiding to the cardinal, the cardinal promptly announces his admiration for the Charlie Chaplin. This is a reference to a song which was cut called "Not Since Charlie Chaplin".
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-In the scene where Kate Hudson's character Stephanie meets Guido at the hotel bar, Stephanie confesses her love for Guido's films to which Guido says: "Grazie" and Stephanie replies "Prego." This is a reference to the stage version of the song "Folies Bergère".
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-"Be Italian" is usually the epilogue to Saraghina's song "Ti Voglio Bene". The song was cut, but the melody can still be heard in the new orchestration for the movie.
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-Lindsay Lohan expressed interest in a role, but was turned down after producers felt she looked "too young".
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-When Carla meets Guido at the train station, she says that she stayed at hotel with her parents during the war, and there were a lot of Germans there. This references the song "The Germans at the Spa" which was in the play, but not used in the film.
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©-DR-NINE de Rob Marshall (2009) fin
19/01/2014 11:18
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