A shocking story (Gia (DVD))

Member Name: xKatieeex

Product:	Gia (DVD)
Date:	20/09/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting, true, beautiful but dark.

Disadvantages: None

*What's it about?*

Gia is the story of the world's first supermodel; Gia Marie Carangi who rose to fame in the late 1970s. She became addicted to drugs and contracted AIDS from which she died. The movie shows you how she first become a model, her journey within the modelling world and then her tragic demise from taking drugs.

*Who's in it?*

Angelina Jolie stars as Gia. I think she was a good choice for this movie as she has that dark side to her personality. She can switch easily between the elegant, beautiful model and the dark, horrible junkie.
Other cast members;

Elizabeth Mitchell plays Linda, Gia's girlfriend.
Eric Michael Cole stars as T.J., Gia's boyfriend.
Kylie Travis is Stephanie, another model.
Louis Giambalvo is Joe Carangi, her father.
John Considine is Bruce Cooper, Wilhelmina's husband.
Mercedes Ruehl is Kathleen Carangi, Gia's mother.
Faye Dunaway is Wilhelmina Cooper, the person who shot her to fame.

*The stats*

It was originally made for TV in 1998. It lasts about 2 hours and is a certificate 18.

You can purchase it for £4.99 from HMV and I think it's about £2/£3 from Tesco.

I think the certification of the film being 18 is a good choice as it does deal with adult issues like drugs and does show scenes of taking drugs, there is also some nudity and lots of swearing.

*What I thought of it *

What an amazing, but sad film. I was so shocked when I learned how young Gia died, only aged 26. It really made me think about drugs and the model lifestyle. I liked that the movie didn't try to hide how much destruction the drugs caused to Gia. There was a scene in which she was on a photoshoot and completely out of it and was draped over a couch with the stylists just moving her limbs to where they wanted them. It was horrible to see her like that. It was strange seeing such an outwardly beautiful person have this horrible, inner demon. Everybody expects models to be perfect, but they're not.

It was interesting to see how 'normal' drugs are to the modelling world, with photographers and stylists being unphased by Gia's behaviour at shoots and even getting drugs for her. As long as she could do her job, they wouldn't mind and it was only when the drugs interfered with her work they cared.

Angelina Jolie was incredible in this movie. In real life, the public has seen the dark side to Angelina's personality with the self-harm, obsession with knives and she had a thing for blood for a wee while but now we see the beautiful mother, very family orientated who cares about people less fortunate than us. She has also evolved outwardly as a beautiful, elegant woman which is a long shot from her wearing a vial of blood days. In this movie, Angelina has been able to combine those two sides of her (although, at the time of release - I don't think we saw the beautiful side of Angie). I was really impressed with her portrayl of Gia. She could turn from being this strong, aggressive, independent woman to being shy and vulnerable. Then there was the beautiful, perfect model side of her which hid the horrible, self-destructive junkie side. The rest of the cast were excellent too. This film won a lot of awards and it's easy to see why.

I generally liked the way the movie was filmed. It was half documentary, half film. It was interesting to see little snippets about Gia from the people who 'knew her', or thought they did. The film has a slight 'Jean Luc Godard' air about it with the music and with the repeated shots of the same thing, which I think it could have done without, but it didn't make the movie bad.

The movie did a good job of cramming in a whole person's short, but eventful life into two hours. Although, it did seem too quick at times and I was sometimes found myself a little lost.

Overall, it's an excellent movie, a real must-see. It's an interesting story about the rise and fall of such a beautiful, self-destructive person. It's a real shame what happened to Gia.

A similar review has also been posted on Ciao under the same username.

Summary: Excellent, but sad story.