Oates\u2019 novel imagined the details of Monroe\u2019s life, and similarly Blonde<\/em> probably shouldn\u2019t be used as the primary source for your understanding of the starlet. Dominik\u2019s film takes for granted \u2014 or doesn\u2019t care \u2014 that the audience has some awareness of her biography and culture, crediting Adrien Brody as The Playwright and Bobby Cannavale as The Ex-Athlete, though a cursory knowledge of her biography indicates they\u2019re actually Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio, respectively. Blonde<\/em> isn\u2019t interested in sharing the facts or getting them right; instead, this is an impressionistic but quite vivid portrait of the elusive real-life person Marilyn Monroe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dominik bookends Blonde<\/em> with Marilyn\u2019s absent father. In the film\u2019s first scene, set in 1933, her mentally ill mother (Julianne Nicholson) gives young Marilyn, n\u00e9e Norma Jeane (Lily Fisher), a photo of the man. A terrifying episode soon separates mother and daughter, but Blonde<\/em> isn\u2019t too concerned with her larger childhood and adolescent experiences as Norma Jeane, skipping ahead to her early years in Hollywood as Marilyn (Ana de Armas). Decades later, her father is never far from her thoughts, even though he remains far from her daily life as she grows up into the actress we instantly recognize. De Armas embodies the qualities that made Marilyn such a star, radiating a beauty and magnetism that few could resist and practically everyone \u2014 including studio heads, photographers, lovers, and the audience \u2014 wanted to consume without any thought for what it would leave for Marilyn herself. Blonde<\/em> plays all the hits, including her marriages, drug use, and mesmerizing appearances in films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes<\/em>, Some Like It Hot<\/em>, and The Seven Year Itch<\/em>, so the only surprises come when someone actually doesn\u2019t treat her terribly in the movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Blonde<\/em> wants us to feel sorry for Marilyn, who rightly chafes at being thought of as an object by almost every man she encounters. Heads turn in succession as she walks by, in a leering, nightmarish version of the wave. Everyone underestimates her, surprised at her mentions of Dostoevsky and Chekhov, as though this stunning woman can\u2019t possibly have read a book or understood its larger meaning. And we do feel sorry for her, because what we\u2019re witnessing is almost pure suffering, punctuated by only a few brief moments of happiness over the course of an entire lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n De Armas said of the script<\/a>, \u201cI found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.\u201d Two out of three ain\u2019t bad, ma\u2019am, but the film\u2019s version of Marilyn seems to see her as much of an object as practically everyone else does. Yet instead of the purely sexual lens most see her through, the film grounds her existence only in relation to her absent father and her grief over multiple lost pregnancies, rather than who she is. She poutily calls each of her (much older) husbands, \u201cDaddy,\u201d and there wasn\u2019t a single time it didn\u2019t make me squirm. That was likely the point, but there\u2019s little subtlety in how Blonde<\/em> handles the issue. And if that lack of subtlety bothers you, just wait for the multiple shots from the uterus and vagina and the literal baby talk coming from a fetus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a film that wants to argue that there was more substance to Monroe than just her beauty, Blonde<\/em> is far more focused on style. You feel Dominik\u2019s directorial hand over every frame in a way that\u2019s often missing from most big movies; there is absolutely a person behind the camera, rather than just a studio or franchise machine that dictates a muddy palette and uninspired shots. Each of DP Chayse Irvin\u2019s images are stunning, whether in color or black and white, which the film switches between from scene to scene. The sound design (especially in early scenes) is remarkable, awe-inspiring when combined with the score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Blonde<\/em> is a beautifully made film in every element of its craft, but it is still grueling viewing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dominik has previously focused on the theme of modern legends in both The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford<\/em> and Chopper <\/em>\u2014 and more broadly the legend of U.S. capitalism in Killing Them Softly<\/em> \u2014 so centering one of Hollywood\u2019s most enduring icons seems like a natural fit for the writer-director. The theme allows for larger commentary on Hollywood, America, and how we treat those we idolize, but Dominik is also interested in the duality of fame: who a person is to the world and who they really are. De Armas ably inhabits both Marilyn Monroe and Norma Jeane, demonstrating particular nuance when Marilyn allows the mask to briefly drop. Yet for all the centering of this idea, Dominik doesn\u2019t truly seem that interested in humanizing the star and treating her with the dignity a person deserves. Blonde<\/em> condemns the treatment Marilyn endured from practically everyone, but it also perpetuates it, decades later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With Dominik at the helm, Blonde<\/em> has its merits in its visual style, technical prowess, and compelling performances, but it\u2019s tough to argue that it\u2019s worth sitting through for most audiences. Its runtime is punishing, but not nearly as much as the treatment of the character. Blonde<\/em> is not the type of film that one feels glad to have endured; instead, it leaves a lingering sense of disgust and sadness at the continued objectification of Marilyn Monroe, even by a movie that purports to criticize it. “Blonde” is now playing in limited release. It debuts on Netflix<\/a> Wednesday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/blonde2-1024x767.jpg\")
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