Product Details

• Actors: Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, LisaGay Hamilton, Holly Hunter
• Directors: Rodrigo García
• Writers: Rodrigo García
• Producers: Alejandro González Ińárritu, Amy Lippens, Julie Lynn, Kelly Thomas
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, German, French
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000CQ98FK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,138 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Nine Lives" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nine Lives is a collection of related short stories, each a snippet from a woman's life, each shot in one uninterrupted ten-minute take. Remarkably, this never becomes a gimmick; the skillfully writing and directing make the restriction feel essential to each story. A woman in prison (Elpidia Carillo, Bread and Roses) struggles to maintain some kind of balance despite her circumstances; the ex-wife (Amy Brenneman, Judging Amy) gets a cool reception at the funeral of her ex-husband's second wife; a mother (Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons) and her daughter (Dakota Fanning, War of the Worlds) have a picnic at a graveside. Each story deftly escalates the emotional circumstances; only one story feels at all forced. The acting is superb throughout--hardly surprising from a cast that includes Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom), Holly Hunter (The Piano), Aidan Quinn (Benny & Joon), Molly Parker (Deadwood), and many more, all superb and clearly relishing the opportunity to perform such a long and complex scene (most movies rarely have more than thirty seconds without an edit). If there's a criticism, it's that the stories are almost unrelentingly serious; anxiety, melancholy, yearning, and regret are thoroughly explored--a little more humor might have provided more contrast and variety. Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her), who shares with his father Gabriel Garcia Marquez a fascination with interconnected lives. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Nine Lives is an award winning, moving exploration of the individual experiences of nine everyday women as told through nine single unbroken takes. As characters from one story reappear in supporting roles in others, director Rodrigo Garcia interweaves a grand tapestry of storytelling as he reveals nine unique women who meet the travails and disappointments of life with a resilience that is at once heartening and heartbreaking.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Every life has a story. And every story has a life of its own. November 10, 2005

By Cinephiliac VINE™ VOICE

The film, which is written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia ("Things You Can Tell By Looking At Her"), is a compilation of sympathetic vignettes centering on the lives of nine dissimilar women. Each abbreviated episode (10 to 12 minutes) has been staged as a continuous Steadicam shot and focuses in on one particular woman. Each woman's episode in the film is self-sustaining, although the occasional character can overlap into another woman's storyline - sometimes overlapping at the corners and sometimes as a more fully developed presence.

Sandra (Edpidia Carrillo) is a hard luck prison inmate at a woman's correctional facility awaiting a visit from her daughter. A very pregnant Diana (Robin Wright Penn) has a bittersweet and poignant chance encounter with an ex-lover, Damian (Jason Isaacs), while late night grocery shopping. Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) spirals out of control upon returning to her childhood home after a long absence. Lorna (Amy Brenneman) finds both a chilly and an unforeseen reception while attending the funeral of her ex-husband's (William Fichtner) second wife. Sonia (Holly Hunter) and her boyfriend, Martin (Stephen Dillane), have a bitter and inappropriate argument while visiting another couple in their new apartment. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) contemplates having an adulterous affair with Henry (Aidan Quinn). My favorite storyline is that of a hospital patient, Camilla (Kathy Baker), and her husband, Richard (Joe Mantegna). Awaiting a preoperative visit from her surgeon, Camilla is anxious and angry, lashing out at everyone, but especially Richard. Poor Richard (who wants to be supportive and comfort his wife) cannot seem to say anything right. It is only after receiving a sedative injection that Camilla finally becomes calm, allowing Richard to safely approach her, and permitting the audience to see the tenderness which is at the core of their relationship.

It is quite apparent that director Rodrigo Garcia genuinely likes women and accepts them despite their flaws and imperfections. Each woman's storyline (with one exception) feels authentic, as if the audience had just intruded on a particular woman's life, leaving you to draw your own conclusions and fill in any back-story.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A movie that lets you fill in the blanks as it explores pivotal moments in some women's lives March 1, 2006

By K. Corn TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

What this film IS: A thoughtful exploration of individual moments in the lives of many different women, all of them facing some crisis or difficulty. It is also the closest thing to a short story collection I've seen on film - if the short stories cut straight to the climax of each story (read on, you'll understand what I mean).

What this film is NOT: A suspense or escape thriller with all the answers handed to the viewer at the conclusion. This isn't a "feel good" flick, although there are parts which are touching and warm. It is intense and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss subtle but crucial moments.

I was stuck by the amazing complexity in the lives of each of these women (and their men as well) and by the rather audacious decison by the director to leave lots of questions unanswered, allowing the viewer to imagine what happens next to each character, to fill in the spaces...or just to keep wondering about the whys and wherefores.

You see each women at a major moment in her life but you don't really know the entire backstory, nor do you know what will happen next. A pregnant woman meets her old boyfriend in a grocery store and the moment sets off a shockwave of emotion. Another woman confronts her stepfather, gun in hand, but...why? Was there sexual abuse? Or something else that has left her so angry, unhinged and desperate? A young girl seems to be managing to keep peace in her home, to look after her disabled father and to keep her parents together - or is she? Sometimes one woman will show up in another woman's episode, so that there is some overlap and you get a chance to see another side of a person's character.

If you don't like loose ends, I'd suggest you stay away from this film. But I loved it, love the acknowledgment that sometimes there are crucial moments that may be AS important - or MORE important- than the moments that came before or since. Pivotal moments. And does it really matter what happens next? To see more might actually make the crucial moment less intense, less meaningful.

An extremely creative, daring, magical film!

IF YOU GET THE DVD: There are some very nice special features in the DVD, including interviews with the actresses who give THEIR interpretation of the characters they play. This led to some new insights as I listened to them speak about what they thought of their characters and what motivated them. There are other "behind the scenes" moments which show how certain parts of the film were set up and shot.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, intense, and emotional March 13, 2006

By Maudeen Wachsmith VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

What a great, stunning, emotional movie! These nine vignettes, each about 12 minutes long, feature very different women from all walks of life, each of them who could be said is stuck in some kind of emotional rut - some more deep than others, some of which they have control of and some they don't. We start out with Sandra in LA County Jail who is trying her best but whose emotions are right at the surface and a seemingly minor incident spells disaster for her. Then Diana played exquisitely by the fabulous Robin Wright Penn who runs into her old love, Damian, in the supermarket years after their relationship has ended; the one gesture by Damian just broke my heart. Other standouts include Sissy Spacek as the wife of a disabled man (Deadwood's Ian McShane) who shows up in two of the vignettes and Amy Brenneman as he ex-wife of a man whose wife has just committed suicide. All the stories are so vivid, so intense that I am glad I saw it on DVD instead of in a theater as I found I was forced to take a break in the middle. There were several that moved me to tears. This is really great film making and absolutely highly recommended.