Creating Illusion

Yesterday while awaiting the "blizzard" of 2009", Laura and I went to see the new Bob Marshall film, Nine.

You may have seen this musical theater piece on Broadway distinguished by several memorable songs, great dancing and based on the Italian film maker Federico Fellini's life and times.

Bob Marshall also directed the film version of Chicago a few years back and his work is wonderfully clear.

The story line deals with Fellini creating the world of The Italians as he wanted people to imagine they were; not who they truly were in the 1950s. Fellini wanted the world to see the Italians as glamorous, sexy, amorous and above the mores of morality of the time. Fellini in fact was a tortured, abused, selfish, creative genius(funny how often those words are attached to the term creative genius)who failed at all the female relationships he had. He was at the same time adored, forgiven, tolerated, and pampered by all of the women in his life. Most of them simultaneously!

Like Fellini, Marshall creates a wold of illusion. An illusion within the illusion. How? By casting some of the most beautiful women in the Hollywood genre, and this is the illusion, who are actresses and not musical theater people.

Judy Dench pulls it off because of the material she has to work with. She also carries the story line along with Daniel Day Lewis who is superb. And then, Sophia Loren, well, playing Sophia Loren: several close ups, a bit of dialogue, charming but beneath the dignity of an 80 year old super star. No one else can sing, some look like they can dance but all in all not up to the demands of musical theater.

Why, one could ask, bother to direct beautifully, choreograph superbly, shoot film perfectly, costume people handsomely and do it with people who can not sing and dance?

Think if the likes of Donna Murphy, Chita Rivera(in the role of his mother), Kelly O'Hara, Audra Mc Donald, and even Karen Akers(from the original cast)had the major roles. They can all sing, dance and act.

So Marshall and Harvey Weinstein went with the box office draws($)instead of musical theater talent asking those they did cast to create the illusion that they have musical theater talent!! Ludicrous.

Go to see and let me know what you think.