Director: Michael Cristofer. Starring: Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mila Kunis, Mercedes Ruehl. 18 cert, 126 min.

‘Gia’ is a historical drama film based on the life and death of Italian-American model Gia Marie Carangi, who is widely believed to have been the world’s first supermodel. At the age of just 17, Gia moved to New York and was signed by Wilhelmina Models. 

Her rise to stardom was fast, but Gia soon turned to drugs, eventually developing a severe heroin addiction. 

‘Gia’ is a heartbreaking, intimate look into the short but passionate life of Carangi. Shot in a mock-documentary style and including passages from Gia’s diary, this film contains powerful messages about drug addiction, identity, and the brutal nature of the modelling industry. 

One day you’re a star, but when you’re past your sell-by date, you may as well be dead. 

Directed by Michael Cristofer, ‘Gia’ was released in 1998 as a biographical television film for HBO. 

However, it stands out from other biopics with its unusual arthouse style, graphic sex and drug-related imagery, and of course a strong lead performance from Angelina Jolie. ‘Gia’ rarely attempts to sugarcoat or glamourise drug abuse, instead portraying the darker side to Vogue’s glossy magazine covers. 

And though the trappings of fame and fortune are a familiar movie trope, ‘Gia’ does it particularly well. Angelina Jolie delivers a deeply nuanced performance as Gia, a fiery bisexual model who is at times childish and short-tempered, but also full of love and plagued by abandonment issues and tragedy. 

Gia’ is not only a cautionary tale about the consequences of drug use, but a tragic love story. At first glance the relationship between Gia, played by Angelina Jolie, and Linda, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, appears exaggerated and exploitative. 

A lot of the film’s runtime focuses on their unstable relationship, as well as porn-like shots of the two women making love. However, it is true that Gia was infatuated with a particular woman in her life. In 1978, Gia Carangi took part in her first major shoot, where she posed nude behind a chain link fence with makeup artist Sandy Linter. 

This shoot is actually shown in ‘Gia,’ and the character Linda is loosely based upon Sandy. Though it is not my place to comment on the truth behind various aspects of their relationship, Sandy Linter continues to raise awareness about HIV and AIDs to this day in Gia’s memory. 

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