gia
Directed: Michael Cristofer
Written: Jay McInerney and Michael Cristofer
When given the right material, the right director and the right co-stars, Angelina Jolie is so indescribably talented. She's made some absolutely horrible films but some great ones too, and even when a film is bad, she's generally the best thing in it.
Jolie's most courageous performances lie at the beginning of her career, with Gia acknowledged as one of her two best roles so far, along with her Academy Award-winning turn in Girl Interrupted. In both cases she had amazing scripts and a superb supporting cast. In Gia, she's backed by a luminous Elizabeth Mitchell and the great Mercedes Ruehl.
Gia Carangi's story is a well-known and sad one. Flying too high, too fast into the world of international modelling, Carangi took a nose-dive into drugs, became an intravenous drug user, failed many times in rehab and eventually fell victim to AIDS in the early years of the epidemic. No one really knew how the disease was transferred back then, and no one knew what a predator it would become.
Carangi was also famously lesbian, an oddity in the world of high fashion. She had several well-documented relationships with women, both during her glory years and her decline, all of which have been combined here into one character, Linda, a make-up artist played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Linda is the focus of Gia's love and obsession, but she's ultimately powerless to save her as she hurtles towards her own destruction.
Jolie is riveting. From street urchin to high fashion model, the transformation is amazing. That Jolie bears a physical resemblance to Carangi matters not at all. Even if she didn't we would have believed her. Gia sucked the life out of everything around her to fuel her own personality. When Jolie is onscreen we notice everyone else seems that little more dull. She's the bright light, the star, the centre of her own and everyone else's universe. It must have been immensely tiring loving the real Gia Carangi, and the supporting cast play this to perfection.
No stranger to playing gay (she brought Kim Legaspi to life on ER) Elizabeth Mitchell has a shyness within her that never goes away, even when making love or dealing with Gia's drug addictions and their lovers squabbles. In one of the semi-interview segments LInda describes Gia's love as being like a puppy, love me love me love me, all the time. Her look says she did love her, right away, it leaves you aching.
We ache for the life these beautiful woman could have had. We laugh at the insanity of their first meeting. We cry for the terrible way in which she is cut out of Gia's life after giving so much.
Ultimately the story disintegrates into a procession of drug-fuelled days, rehab attempts and failures as Gia loses control of her life. When she's hospitalised with AIDS our attention finally goes to the people she is leaving behind. We see their devastation, but also how her death brought her loved ones a measure of peace.
It's a horrifying conclusion but one Gia herself arrives at before the end, as read from her personal diaries. She used up every bit of her body and soul living a life that couldn't be sustained. It was time for her to let go, so that the people she took along with her could live their own lives again.
Note: There are two different versions of Gia. Find the international unrated one if you can. I always believe in watching the film the filmmaker intended to make, not what the classification board believes is OK for me to watch.