Marilyn Monroe is one of the greatest Hollywood icons of all time. Throughout the ’50s into the early ’60s, Monroe was one, if not the biggest pop culture star in Hollywood. Starting with her brief cameo in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve, Monroe put together quite the resume, including working with the great Billy Wilder in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot. Unfortunately, Monroe’s life was cut short at 36, and since then, there have been many books, documentaries, and films on her life.
One of those books is Blonde, a book written by Joyce Carol Oates and one that was a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Price and 2000 National Book Award. Despite the book’s success, the 700+ page book is often cited as a work of fiction and should not be regarded as an accurate biography. However, despite the controversy, it did not stop adaptations from arriving on the scene. First up was the 2001 CBS mini-series of the same name starring Poppy Montgomery in the titular role. Fast forward 21 years later, and director Andrew Dominik, whose best known for his masterful 2006 film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, stepped up to write and direct a new adaptation of the film starring Ana de Armas in the titular role.
Since the film’s announcement, it gained its fair share of controversy stemming from its NC-17 rating and word of graphic nudity and gratuitous scenes. So as the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival with a 14-minute standing ovation, there was no denying there was intrigue about where I’d land on the film. Two hours and forty-five minutes later, Blonde erupts into a fever dream of an old Hollywood fable. A sprawling look at one of Hollywood’s most prominent icons as she weaves through trauma, objectification, and self-destructiveness.
Dominik’s screenplay unfolds in chronological order as cinephiles enter the world of Norma Jean as a child growing up with an abusive mother. She consistently tells Norma that her father was a star in Hollywood. After a traumatic event changes the foundation of Norma’s childhood and life, Norma experiences success as a model and, once discovered, transitions from Norma Jean to Marilyn Monroe.
While it may be troublesome for viewers, Dominik’s script also examines the idea of pregnancy in Hollywood. In the studio system era, Hollywood wanted “sex symbols,” and pregnancy and motherhood were not on any actresses’ bingo cards during that era. Capturing that through the eyes of the baby in Monroe’s pregnancy indeed leads to uncomfortable moments, but one that ultimately aids in understanding Monroe’s despair.
While chronological, Dominik’s screenplay brutally and effectively builds on the sexual exploitation and torment Marilyn encountered in Hollywood. The imagery sprinkled throughout would be mistaken for a horror film as Monroe experiences visions of men gawking at her with wide-open eyes and mouths on the red carpet of a premiere. The infamous white dress moment in The Seven Year Itch is captured with a pan-out shot of nothing but men cheering for Marilyn that can be seen as nightmarish.
None of these images captures the misogyny she encountered during an evening with JFK. As she is taken through a kitchen like a piece of meat, Monroe is brought to the President’s bedroom, ultimately leading to a blow job through Monroe’s eyes. In what can either be seen as the film’s most potent or uncomfortable moment, cinematographer Chayse Irvin captures the misery she experiences.
Speaking of Irvin, his work in the film is exceptional. Flowing through color and black and white, Irvin’s lens shifts from the technicolor gloss of old Hollywood to a 1940s noir-like feel when Marilyn is in the final moments of her life. Shifting from aspect ratios throughout the film, Irvin’s lens on Blonde captures the eras of Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe, in which the masses consumed her. The film is one of the best-shot films of the year and one that may not receive acclaim at year’s end, but on that’s going to stick with me.
All the technical and screenplay success in Blonde should be credited to the performance of Ana de Armas. She is nothing short of intoxicating in a career-defining version. De Armas tragically captures Monroe’s pain and brings such nuance to a complicated character. De Armas’s take creates a duality to Marilyn where cinephiles are aware when they see Norma or Marilyn onscreen. De Armas’s eyes carry a lot of weight during the moments where her suffering and despair can be felt from a look. An Oscar-worthy performance that will hopefully not be overlooked.
Blonde will not find neutrality within the cinephile community. This is a film that will either be beloved or despised; a film that will land on cinephile’s best of and worst of lists in equal numbers.
For me, Blonde is reminiscent of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, as during its release, it was disposed, and 16 years later, it’s viewed as one of the best films of the ’00s. Yes, Blonde is challenging and often uncomfortable, but it’s a film that requires viewing for all cinephiles.
Blonde premiered on Netflix on September 28th, 2022.
