This is a show based on Gia Marie Carangi, simply known as Gia. Her rise and fall, the mistakes she made and how she paid for it with her life at the tender age of 26 when she could have had everything and anything she wanted. It's about someone so beautiful and talented who took her life and threw it down a rubbish chute. And that is just it - a simple premise which belies the emotional roller coaster ride that it promises you.
A great anti-drug film that will never see the lights in Singapore due to the portrayal of 'alternative sexuality' and nudity (read pornography in censors' eyes), this is a must have for all Angelina Jolie fans and a converter for those who are not. She puts up a performance that's deserving of an Oscar and there isn't a moment in the show when you can doubt that she IS Gia. The 'couldn't care less, I am who I am' attitude of the girl from Philly, the style and class of the supermodel, the pains and insecurity of a woman who craves undivided attention, the drug addict in withdrawal and the dying AIDS patient. Angelina nailed all of them. Any lesser actress couldn't have carried this off.
For those expecting a candy coated show with a happy ending and romantic love story, you'll be sorely disappointed. Instead, be prepared to watch two hours of heartbreak, suffering, drug addiction, denial, and death.
This was about a woman who had risen above what many people could have only dreamed about. From the silent, uneventful place that is Philadelphia she became THE model that people wanted, craved for. Cindy Crawford when she first arrived, was named 'The next Gia'. That's how famous and promising she was. (Gia, not Cindy) And yet, with fame and fortune and the possibility of love in her life, Gia rejected all of them and picked a path of drugs, self destruction which led to her ultimate demise. Watching the whole event take place on screen, it leaves one wondering how anyone could actually make such bad choices in life and you wondered how she would be like if she allowed the people around her to love her. In fact, with Jolie's excellent performance, you would even wish that YOU were the one there for her at that time, to shower her with love and save the woman from herself.
The last 15 minutes were especially heart-rending and the scene where Gia visited Linda for one last time and said the lines "You were the one. You were the only one and you were amazing." was the ultimate. On the one hand you wished that the couple are able to be together and on the other hand, you knew that this heartbreak didn't have to happen. You just wished that things didn't have to turn out the way it did.
The show ended with this quote from Gia's journals:
Life.. and death. Energy and peace. If i stop today it was still worth it. Even the terrible mistakes I've made and would hv unmade if I could. The pains that have burnt me and scarred my soul. It was worth it for having been allowed to walk where I've walked, which was to pound on earth, heaven on earth, back again, into, under, far in between, through it, in it and above...
This was a show about Gia. Who lived her life hard and wild with no regrets though she does leave us rueing the loss of a woman who could be and have anything she wanted. But her death has its own legacy and that is the lesson that our lives are decided by the decisions that we make, the paths we choose. Make the best of it.
And I shall end by saying: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! MUST WATCH!!! If it's the only show you'll ever watch in you life, this has to be IT! If you are homophobic, pretend Linda's Leonard. If it doesn't help, just keep in mind that Linda is not real in Gia's life. She is a combination of different people in Gia's life. If you are religious, fast forward the nudity scenes - nobody told you to criticise and condemn with fingers and eyes wide open. If you are married, watch it after you have put your kids to sleep. You are after all the parents of your kids, if you can't look after you own kids, no one else can.
Basically, watch it. With an open mind. It's not something you will regret.
Go back to Movies Index
Go Home