Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Mitchell, Faye Dunaway.
Gia, is the biographical HBO movie, centered around the life of late model, Gia Carangi. The film shows the models rise to fame and success, moving to New York City and her battle with drugs which inevitably led to her contracting AID's and dying.
Gia, is a very dark and emotional film. I wouldn't say it was hard to watch however the last scene did have an impact on me and is a scene I haven't been able to forget. We see Gia, played by Angelina Jolie, a 17 year old rebel living in Philadelphia get 'found' as she's working in a greasy cafe. She then moves to NYC after signing with top modelling agency Wilhelmina Cooper.
I felt like as the main character was played by Jolie and was very rebellious, because I best know Jolie for her work in Girl, Interrupted, where she also plays a rebel but in a mental house, that Gia was almost a prequel to that - if in Gia she didn't die at the end.
The acting by Jolie, was as always impeccable and she carried the role extremely well. Her presence was very powerful and she portrayed the model character with great passion and accuracy. She showed a vulnerable side to her that was subtle but potent.
The scenes in Gia, were very dim and dark mostly, but on occasion there were very bright and vibrant images. I felt this portrayed her emotions very well and highs to lows. The mise-en-scene of the shots were very clean, crisp and natural. Everything seemed to have it's own place and the images created seemed very realistic of the life it was trying to imitate. The darker scenes and themes also seemed to be portrayed very realistically, honestly and conveyed a very New York lifestyle.
One thing that stood out to me was again, the whole naturalness of it. Nothing seemed forced, not the shots, acting, emotions or narrative. The whole film flowed very seamlessly. Also the notion of it being an biographical film didn't feel obvious in the slightest and you almost just felt like it was a Jolie movie.
As a whole, the movie Gia was a very good watch and kept my attention the whole way through. If you liked Girl, Interrupted then I definitely think this one is a watch for you.
