When Cindy Crawford first entered the modeling world, she was dubbed, "Baby Gia." Her likeness to the model that was beyond perfection was what helped boost her career. Crawford, knew little about Carangi and her struggle.
When Stephen Fried published Thing of Beauty in 1993, he shed light on the exotic beauty known as Gia. He exposed the dark side of modeling, and showed the world the rise and fall of one of the most beautiful girls to ever live.
The movie Gia, is based of Fried's book. However, the movie takes several liberties. Gia's lover, "Linda", is based of Sandy Linter, a make-up artist in which Gia wooed and dated. Gia also dated a women by the name of Alyssa (she used the alias "Rochelle" in Fried's book). The writers combined these two loves, however, down played Alyssa's personality and character.
Gia's "journals" never existed. She did keep date books, too keep track of her appointments, and occasionally wrote things, but she never had an extensive amount of journals like the movie portrays. Gia's time in rehab is also downplayed.
Without a doubt, the movie is good, but if you want to know more about Gia, check out the book.
Gia
1998
Action / Biography / Drama / Romance
Gia
1998
Action / Biography / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Gia Carangi meteorically rises to fame and becomes a forefront modeling industry in the late 1970s but falls prey to persistent loneliness and drug addiction.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
November 16, 2018 at 11:30 PM
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Great movie - but the book is better
Gia
Angelina Jolie is a natural fit to play Gia Carangi.
Both were rebellious growing up. Gia was a punk teenager in Philadelphia who headed off to New York in the late 1970s and soon became a top fashion model under agent Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway.)
Success was swift and in the heady days of the early 1980s. She became a supermodel, was openly lesbian/bisexual, did lots of drugs. Unfortunately she was one of the first famous women to die of Aids in 1986.
Co-writer and director Michael Cristofer gives this movie a docudrama approach. It has talking heads discussing aspects of Gia's life.
Gia was undoubtedly a brash woman, she had relationship issues with a girlfriend and a complex relationship with her mother.
Despite being artily shot, some nudity from Ms Jolie. It comes across as another rise and fall true life movie.
At times it just felt skin deep and a bit camp. Nothing about the pressures of the fashion industry where drug use is regarded as common.
The taboo aspects of Aids in the 1980s is dealt with. It should had been a movie that amounted to something more. Jolie certainly showed why she was regarded as a rising star.