Synopsis
Filmmaker JJ Martin explores Gia Carangi's life through rare home movies and photos, previously unseen interviews with Gia, and contemporary interviews with family, friends, and associates.
The Self-Destruction of Gia
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Alternative Title
An American Girl: The Self-Destruction of Gia
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USA
07 May 2003
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Gia has been on my mind a lot again lately so I thought I was due a rewatch of this docu, sadly afaik only available in quite battered form and with some serious audio issues here and there online right now (hint hint somebody pls restore this). For some reason the music choices seem to vary a lot depending on which video I'm watching too which is a little confusing.
Nevertheless, it remains fascinating to hear the testimonies of those who knew her casually and closely and highlights her enduring and obvious appeal to the present. More than any other model I've seen she seems almost as much an actress in her ability to project character in her photos and…
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Watched this as a followup to the biopic yesterday - it goes over the brief rise and swift fall of Gia Carangi's career as well as delving into subjects such as modelling more generally, her sexuality, androgyny, heroin addiction and eventual death. Some light problems aside (I feel like titling the interviewees before the credits would have been a good choice though the version of this I watched online had Russian subs that did that anyway), this is really compelling documentary filmmaking, spinning through many photos of Gia, interviews with her and home movies (where she comes across notably more loose and boyish than in her TV work) to tell a tragic narrative. Also watched this partly for Zoe Lund's…
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this doc would have benefited having interviews with the people that were important for her before her death but it's still very touching to witness anyone just talking about their perception of her incredible persona. I wish she could see how much she's still loved 🤍
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A low-key, mostly talking heads documentary on the woman often considered the first supermodel, Gia Carangi, who became heavily addicted to heroin before dying due to complications from AIDS, probably from infected needle sharing, in 1986 at the age of 26.
Gia remains a mystery, despite input from her mother, the female stylist with whom she had some kind of affair, mostly one-sided pursuing from Gia, her counsellor who found himself in the grimiest shooting galleries rescuing her from ODing, and a handful of others from the fashion world, including Janice Dickinson. Included in the interviews, and probably the one with the most insight of heroin usage, is Zoe Lund, giving her last interview, as she succumbed from a drug overdose in 1999 at the age of 37.
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“Live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse”—this was the epitome of the American ethos. At one time, I too succumbed to its allure, avoiding thoughts of tomorrow by drowning myself in Xanax much like Gia drowned in copious amounts of heroin, seeking solace amidst life’s chaos. Every industry recognizes true talent when it appears, understanding its rarity and the impossibility of artificially reproducing it. Her unique, untamed beauty possessed a magnetic quality that could market anything; in her photographs, she sold not just products but also the essence of sensuality.
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Pq a Angelina Jolie só faz papel de gente doida? ela é definitivamente ótima nisso