Gia

"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.

Film Scene

Trivia - Mila Kunis plays Gia at age 11.

Film Trailer

Gia Carangi Personal Interview

Film Photos - Poster

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Film Transcript

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.

Great Expectations (1998)

"Everything I've ever done, I've done for you." Finn

☆☆☆☆☆ Classic

Great Expectations (1998) is a spellbinding visual romance.

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron.

Starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Cooper, Hank Azaria, Robert Deniro and Anne Bancroft.

Alfonso starts the film by having Ethan say, "I'm not going to tell the story the way it happened. I'm going to tell you the way I remember it." Telling the story as you remember it, not as it happened, is the golden rule of cinema. Cuaron understood that Charles Dickens classic story needed a visual interpretation not a literary reproduction.

Film is a visual medium first and foremost. Get the visuals right and the audience will disappear into the story and elevate it to great heights. There are four key visual elements to why this film works for its audience. The director, cinematographer, artist and actors all help create a visually stunning story that allows the audience to inhabit the world they created.

The movie is breathtaking to watch. Giving a bit more background to each character would have helped the overall story. When a film has this many important persons, a director needs to find a way to give the back story of each character. Back stories help the audience empathize with each character's conflicts and dramas. I'm reminded of another film released at the same time as Great Expectations. Tom Tykwer, brilliantly handled all of his characters back stories in Lola Rennt - Run Lola Run (1998) by using photo montages. Each characters past, present and future were succinctly shown in a series of photos which informed his audience about their lives. I think back stories for each character are especially important for films using written works, as their source material. Audiences come into the movie theater having already read the story and are expecting the same level of character detail in its film version. The problem filmmakers have, is that cinema needs to condense a long story. Editing is a directors best friend in tightening a story. I need to mention the the art work throughout the film. It was created by Francesco Clemente. Francesco's art is haunting, moving, intimate and silently helps the narration of the story.

The scene below is a beautiful example of how Cuaron's masterful direction, Emmanuel Lubezki's opulent camera work and Steven Weisberg's stylish editing help make two children's simple kiss into an intimate adult memory for the audience. The power of cinema's visual grandeur to help an audience fantasize cannot be overstated. Enjoy!

Film Scene

Trivia - Ms. Dismoor's mansion in Florida is actually Ca d' Zan. John Ringling, the founder of Ringling Brothers Circus, built it in Sarasota, Florida for him and his wife Mable.

Film Trailer

Robert De Niro Audition For GodFather II

"I make him an offer he don' refuse. Don' worry." Vito

☆☆☆☆☆ Winning Audition

Robert deniro original audition for The GodFather II (1974)

Directed by Francis Ford Copolla.

Starring Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Lee Strasberg and others. 

Here is an interesting audition of Robert De Niro for the part of Sonny Corleone in The GodFather II. The part of sonny eventually went to James Caan. Robert De Niro played the young Vito Corleone and won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrail of the young Vito.

What I find interesting in this audition as an actor is how Robert forgets his dialogue and covers it up by repeating the same words, "You Get His " at about the 10 second mark. By repeating the same words again more forcefully it jars your memory back into the moment of the scene. Never, ever stop a scene to restart, because you forgot your lines. Just do what De Niro does in this forgetful moment during an audition and all will be well. Usually it colors the lines and scenes in new ways and shows the director that you can handle a hickup or two under pressure.
The other thing I notice is that in the second take he laughs off the moment he just finished which relaxes the auditioners. Always stay easy going, no matter what happens in an audition. It really helps the auditioners like you and leads to call backs.
Robert has a lot of nervous energy during his audition here. This nervous energy never shows up in his work.
Anyways, glad to see Robert is as human as the rest of us.
Enjoy!

Trivia - Robert prepared for the role of Vito, by living in Sicily for a time.