I saw "Nine" years ago when it was on Broadway, with Antonio Banderas, who was phenomenal. I only just recently saw this movie on TV, and thought it was so boring. I can't figure out how they went so wrong with this movie. You had a cast full of Oscar winners who did the best they could- yet, it all felt FLAT. It was just so strange. It's a great play, I guess it just didn't transfer well to film.
shareTo me it has to have something to do with that trend the film version of Chicago started (and in my view also ruined that musical), i.e. they didn't "allow" the musical to be a musical! Ok, I'll elaborate:
When the surreal take on the genre proved to be a surprise hit with Moulin Rouge after decades of dry spell in that category of films, there seemed to be this consensus that this was the only way to do them on film - in other words, they didn't trust the fundamental essence of what makes a musical a musical, that people start singing in the middle of a conversation, would work (anymore) in a film adaptation. So instead they're trying this whole "dual-reality" rubbish, both in Chicago and this film - and it just kills all the charm & magic of musical as a concept!
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Never finish what you can't start! ;)
I'm not sure how you would have had them do Chicago differently, seeing as about every song in the stage musical takes place outside of the action as a performance. Almost none of the songs in the original show are a part of the action.
However, the concept which I thought worked wonderfully for Chicago, was a complete bust in Nine.
they didn't trust the fundamental essence of what makes a musical a musical, that people start singing in the middle of a conversation, would work (anymore) in a film adaptation. So instead they're trying this whole "dual-reality" rubbish, both in Chicago and this film - and it just kills all the charm & magic of musical as a concept!
I don't get it either.
Okay, it's just now showing on Pluto Free Streaming TV, and it looks great, the songs are great and the musical numbers are entertaining. DDL is totally convincing and sings passably, the ladies all look fab and give good performances, the look of the film is sleek and incredibly stylish, but still... it doesn't work. Why?
Because it doesn't, for all the style and music and talent, after a while it just becomes a bunch of women criticizing a man and it gets tiresome. I suppose that's also the plot of the original "8 1/2", but Fellini was telling a deeply personal story, and dressed it up with enough fantasticism and surprises that it's both delightful and heartbreaking, and there's none of that in "Nine". Apparently if the basic story of a man hating himself and everyone around him hating for excellent reasons needs more dressing up than this film gives it, apparently sleek-and-stylish isn't enough to dress up a story that needs dressing up.