Rob Marshall’s Nine: A film musical disaster or a celebration of failure?

Rob Marshall’s 2009 film of the Maury Yeston musical Nine (1982) received generally unfavourable reviews, and unlike his earlier adaptation of the hit musical Chicago (2002), it failed either to excite audiences or to rekindle the flame of the Hollywood film musical. This article considers some of Marshall’s choices in making the film, exploring his homage to Federico Fellini (whose own film 8½ was the influence for the original stage musical). It suggests that because the songs disrupt the narrative flow, and the unsympathetic lead character Guido lacks the backbone to make his project succeed, Marshall’s work is a deliberate inversion of film musical tradition.