"I do be da pittiest, pittiest girl. I do be dat." Gia Carangi
☆☆☆☆☆ Classic
Gia (1998) comes to life by Angelina Jolie's scorching, reckless performance.
Directed and co-written by Michael Cristofer.
Starring Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell and Mercedes Ruehl among many others.
I saw Gia while in my 3rd year repertory season at The Actors Studio MFA Program. I had mastered and understood The Method as taught at The Actors Studio by teachers trained and certified by Lee Strasberg himself. You see The Method in brief character moments within a character action in a scene. Some Method trained actors like Marlon Brando, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe had many Method moments in their film acting careers. Angelina had so many Method moments in Gia that I sat back in awe. One moment really stood out for me as it happened. When Jolie leaps at the fence, nude I thought to myself that Angelina had gone too far and would need psychological help and time out from acting to recover her sanity and her real self. The Method frees us to go recklessly off the deep end on a characterization. Properly trained Method Actors at The Actors Studio know that they need help after losing themselves within a character.
The scene below has nudity and a Method moment. What I love about Angelina's work below and in general is that she can dazzle you more with her characterization then with her physical beauty. Not many people can be so free with their bodies while doing scenes completely nude. Nudity requires a confidence in yourself that few possess. Watch the look in Angelina's eyes as she leaps at the fence. She is completely lost in character. Also look at how confident she is when she is nude. Nudity seems to free Jolie's instrument. I'm happy that Angelina has continued to develop her instrument and expanded her craft to include writing, directing and producing films.
Jon Voight, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Mickey Rourke, Michael Parks and John Malkovich to name a few well known Method Actors all have reached the pinnacle of The Method moment where they can with one action convey an entire characters persona and life. Jolie came close to reaching The Method Moment pinnacle in the scene below. Angelina reached that Method milestone in another movie I will review at a later date. Keep an eye out for Mercedes work opposite Angelina. Not even Angelina in full character can overtake Ruehl in a scene.
I added an interview with the real Gia Carangi. Note how Angelina captured Gia's essence. Poor Gia seems to be high in the interview, but you can see the wild tiger in her that Jolie captured in portraying Carangi.
Trivia - Mila Kunis plays Gia at age 11.
Note - If you would like to view Gia to rent or buy please click on the link below the comments. It is sponsored by Google, so it is the safest and most secure way to get a copy for your film library.
