NINE

I am head over heels in lust with Maestro Contini's car in Nine. All the more motivation to pass my driving test...just so I can even come close to the fantasy of driving one of these jazzy little numbers.

The film itself was spectacular. An unabashedly expensive, superficial, sequin-coated fantasy. I would recommend going to see it for the unbelievable costumes and the dance sequences, but don't go looking for any depth of plot. Judi Dench (oh m'lovely!) was brilliant as always, Marion Cotillard outshone them all, but otherwise, despite the huge cast budget, the acting was a bit stale.

The story revolves around a struggling director and his 'journey', so to film-speak, to composing a script for his latest film. However, along with his work, he has to balance a bevy of indecently beautiful women who all happen to be hopelessly devoted to him in one way or another ( what a burden.) A typically narcissistic plot line which tends to emerge when a writer is composing a novel about the life of a writer or a director is making a film about directing.