Marilyn Monroe : her anti-glam biopic

Blonde

It's the most anticipated Netflix movie of the fall. Blonde retraces the ultimately sordid destiny of Norma Jean who became Marilyn Monroe , a thousand leagues from the glitter and glamor that crowned her myth... The new film by New Zealander Andrew Dominik lifts the veil on the tragic life of this timeless Hollywood icon .

Loosely adapted from the best-selling book by Joyce Carol Oates

Beneath its false biopic airs, Blonde is a bold reinterpretation of the trajectory of the world-famous singer and actress. From his violent childhood to his meteoric rise, through his affair with President Kennedy or his sulphurous marriage with Joe DiMaggio , from his failed castings to his greatest successes, the feature film intends to reveal everything about the life of the missing star. tragically at the age of 32 in 1962.

Director Andrew Dominik ( The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ) had the daunting task of bringing the eponymous book to the screen. For the main role, the choice fell on Ana de Armas ( At Knives Out ) who slipped into the skin of Marilyn with disconcerting ease . At his side, we find Bobby Cannaval e ( Boardwalk Empire ) to embody Joe DiMaggio, Adrien Brody in Arthur Miller, Julianne Nicholson ( Masters of Sex ), Caspar Philipson ( Jackie ) or Toby Huss ( Jerry Maguire ).

“In Los Angeles, you never know what's real and what's fake”

From the first minutes of the film, the tone is set: Blonde noticeably blurs the line between reality and fiction. The goal? Explore the growing gap between the public figure and the person that Marilyn Monroe was in private. The scenes go from black and white to color without transition, we sail through the sometimes violent memories of the star, the image changes format throughout the film which becomes disturbing and plunges its spectators into a hypnotizing fog.

In search of authenticity, Andrew Dominik spent a long time on the costumes : we find the flying white dress and realistic sets, with even a scene shot in the house in which the actress was found dead. This does not mean that all the stories told in this film are true: it is an interpretation of the life of Marilyn Monroe , to be taken more as a sensory experience than as a factual account of her life.

The trashy story of a slow descent into hell

Certain scenes, remarks or images may offend the sensitivity of the spectators Blonde is the kind of film that makes people talk about it even before its release: artistic differences, in particular concerning the raw sex scenes and certain violent sequences, had taken place between the director and the platform. The film, after 10 years of hard work, was finally able to see the light of day but obtained the rare +18 classification on Netflix .

By alternating voluptuous dreamlike sequences and more nightmarish scenes, Andrew Dominik lets a permanent tension and a feeling of oppression hang over the film. The bewitching music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis ( This Much I Know to Be True ) structures the vice that is tightening around the young star. By operating a remarkable plunge, both brutal and terrifying, into an American nightmare (the film industry), the film tackles universal and ultra-current themes. In the end, the director delivers the poignant horrific tale of a woman who is abandoned, shaped, desired, shouted down, assaulted, abused and slowly killed by the men who crossed her path.

Available on Netflix.

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