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Contini has made a string of great movie, followed by a string of flops. He feels that the movie he is trying to make – his 9th movie - has to be great in order for him to continue to be a respected director. The problem is he has no idea for a script. He names the movie Italia to satisfy reporters and the film studio. He convinces almost everyone that they will be ready to begin filming in a matter of days, even though he has no ideas about what the movie should be.
As Contini is tormented over his upcoming film, he drifts in and out of dreams and fantasies. In these fantasies the musical numbers exist. The musical parts of the movie are where it really shines. Everyone one of the singers is great, and each musical number is full of glitz and glamour. But the best thing about this movie is the cinematography. Every shot is gorgeous, either capturing human beauty or the natural beauty of Italy.
Although the movie was visually stunning, the main character proves difficult to root for. Contini is a man who is cheating on his wife, spends the day dreaming about other women and lies to the majority of people in his life. I wanted him to fail throughout the movie, so the trials he faced as a director and as a man were fairly meaningless to me.
Aside from the general dislikability of the main character, Nine was a fun and creative musical the takes a more interesting approach than the standing stage musical to film translation. Musical fans should waste no time before seeing this, everyone else could probably take it or leave it. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. | 