It’s one of the most anticipated movies of the end of this year: Blonde with Ana de Arma is finally available on Netflix. Is This Fake Marilyn Monroe Biography Worth Watching?
what are you talking about
Adapted from Joyce Carol Oates’ bestseller, Blonde is a bold interpretation of the trajectory of Marilyn Monroe, one of Hollywood’s most timeless icons. From her tumultuous childhood to her meteoric rise and complicated love stories—from Norma Jeane to Marilyn—BLONDE blurs the lines between fact and fiction to explore the growing gap between her public persona and the one she was intimate with.
who is he with
Cuban actress Ana de Armas (revealed in Knock Knock and seen since Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out, Dying Can Wait and The Gray Man) was chosen to portray Norma Jean, alias Marilyn Monroe. The actor transformed and slipped into the skin of the Hollywood icon with great ease.
Next to him we find Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire), Adrien Broad (Pianist, Grand Budapest Hotel), Juliana Nicholson (Masters of Sex), Caspar Phillipson (Jack, Mission Impossible: Fallout) or Tobey Haas (Jerry Maguire). ghosts).
is it worth watching
Kera is one of those highly anticipated films which has become the subject of many controversies even before its release. But is it really justified? Andrew Dominik’s feature film (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) took a long time to come to Netflix due to artistic inconsistencies – especially between raw sex scenes and violent scenes – between the director and the platform.
In the end, the filmmaker won his case with his own final cut, but with an NC-17 classification (corresponding to the under-17 ban across the Atlantic). This deal seems most reasonable, as Blonde is full of shocking and disturbing scenes that are best placed in front of an informed audience. In France, the film is prohibited under the age of 18.
Yes, this fake biopic is not for everyone, and it does require a certain amount of effort. But it’s totally worth seeing and experiencing because it’s a real experience. Especially considering that this is an interpretation of Marilyn Monroe’s life and not a biographical film in the strict sense of the term or a documentary. It is through this difference that Andrew Dominique is able to produce uncompromising, powerful and brilliant fiction.
The filmmaker adapts the bias of the author Joyce Carol Oates, who in her book “Blonde” depicted the toxic environment of Hollywood, the tragic journey of a woman and the life made of glitter and blood through the iconic figure of Marilyn Monroe, in an enchanting mist between fantasy. and reality.
Andrew Dominik reappropriates this figure and this fictional story to deliver a poignant, terrifying tale of a woman who is abandoned, shaped, desired, screamed at, assaulted, abused and killed by the men who cross her path. Although the themes discussed are universal, the multiple references to the star’s life are more or less accessible to newcomers, as the film focuses more on the sensory experience than on the factual account of his career.
To do this, he plunges into the fantasized meanderings of the darkest holidays of the existence of a Hollywood star and erects him as a symbol of strong endurance and a force of nature that shares a sincere need to be loved and recognized by everyone and an intelligent and sophisticated perception of the violence and injustice of the world around him.
This exercise is stylistically reminiscent of that of Pablo Laren, who has already shaped other fictional visions of leading female figures: Lady Diana (Kristen Stewart) in Spencer and Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) in Jackie. Each of them had its own “horror movie”, its own tragically depressing story and its disturbing and highly dramatic setting.
But Andrew Dominik goes further than the two films mentioned above and looks more at David Lynch and his own muse: the character of Laura Palmer, the heroine of the Twin Peaks series. This young woman, who was loved and cherished by all, was a victim of demonic evil, which forced her to lead a double life and suffered the most severe cruelty.
The fantasy part aside, Blonde and Twin Peaks have a lot in common. The two heroines experience a kind of split personality and are torn between two identities, very different but which ultimately feed off each other.
Marilyn or not
Marilyn Monroe wouldn’t be Marilyn Monroe without Norma Jean, and Norma Jean wouldn’t be Norma Jean without Marilyn Monroe. And Blondie tries to show how these two identities complement each other as much as they cannibalize each other, alternating between voluptuous dreamlike scenes and more intense nightmare scenes.
Certain scenes in the film will not leave the audience unmoved, even if they are far from being advertised as vulgar and overly graphic, especially the scenes of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Do we really want to see this? Absolutely not. But they are part of a constant sense of tension and oppression that runs throughout the film, creating a descent into Hell and a tight circle of viciousness around Merlin.
At best the content of these scenes will surprise and amaze you, at worst you will find yourself in very bad taste. Apart from this sequence, certainly controversial, the rest of the proposal seems to be a perfect playground for Andrew Dominik, who had fun with his staging, his lighting, black and white and color sequences – and even infrared! – Deliver memorable sequences.
The director is paying great attention to this project, which took more than ten years to complete and for which he created a “picture bible” of more than 700 pages. Blonde is also enriched with lavish costumes, sets and other props and designed, recreated and remastered with precision, authenticity and depth. Real craftsmanship has been done on the blonde and this visual richness makes it possible to offer this case a unique ornament.
And of course, the blonde: Ana de Armas. The Cuban actress has definitely had the role of her life. She slips into the skin of Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe with disturbing ease—no prosthetics, but hours of make-up and hairstyling—and delivers a performance as disturbing as it is surprising. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the cast is flawless, but Ana de Armas really shines in the film.
If the length of the film (2 hours 46) may put some people off, the cinematic experience that is Blonde is worth the detour, even if it is more noticeable on the big screen. Whether we like it or not, this heart-wrenching and radical visit to the fictional psyche of Marilyn Monroe, but one thing is for sure, we will not be indifferent to it.
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
