"Blonde" allows herself poetic liberties: what do critics write about the film about Marilyn Monroe

The premiere of the biographical drama "Blonde" about the life of the famous actress and singer Marilyn Monroe took place at the Venice Film Festival.

Ana de Armas played the title role.

Directed by Andrew Dominik, the film is based on the biographical novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates and follows the life story of a little girl, Norma Jean Baker, who grows up to become screen legend Marilyn Monroe.

Film critics of many publications visited the premiere of the film as part of the film festival and revealed some details about the film.

As Owen Gleiberman of Variety said in his review, the viewer is given the opportunity to learn from the film who the famous Hollywood star really was.

According to him, this is a psychodramatic fantasy filmed in retro color and black and white, which sometimes takes a few poetic liberties.

"Blonde" allows herself some poetic liberties (like most (other. -

) biopics), a couple of which are not very justified, but in general, the picture adheres to the real and spiritual chronology of Marilyn's life, ”the critic writes.

Gleiberman noted that the action begins with Monroe's terrifying childhood filled with fear and hatred - from 1933, when Norma Jean Baker was seven years old.

The mother of the future star was mentally ill and abused the girl, for example, she tried to drown her in the bath.

Further, according to the critic, the beginning of her career is presented and the beginning of the obsession of the actress to make up for the absence of her father in life.

The expert explains: in the film, a lot of time is devoted to the love line of Monroe's life - her numerous novels with men, pain, tears, abortions and monologues with her inner child are shown.

In general, Owen Gleiberman positively assesses the tape, noting the exact game of Ana de Armas.

“Not one of the actresses living today will be like two drops of water similar to Monroe (de Armas has one to one eyes; (and here -

) the smile is a little less mature and more understanding), but everything is decided by the voice - it is reflected in it the whole personality of Marilyn - and in this regard, de Armas has achieved an extraordinary similarity.

She fully justifies all the audience's expectations, literally turning into Marilyn Monroe, ”the critic writes.

"Blonde" made Gleiberman think about how the figure of Marilyn Monroe appeared and what it is actually built on - on the strongest trauma, which is rooted in childhood.

“The picture leaves us with a very painful understanding that where the world saw the goddess, she saw nothing,” the expert concludes.

• © Shot from the film "Blonde"

David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter also noted the actress' performance.

He believes that de Armas managed to metaphorically and literally expose one of the most researched women in pop culture to the viewer.

According to the film expert, Monroe's adolescence and youth are shown in the film through a montage of magazine footage and pin-ups.

In addition, the film contains excerpts from such works by Monroe as "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "Niagara", "The Seven Year Itch" and "Only Girls in Jazz".

However, the critic believes that at some point the tape turns into a horror, where some moments are very unpleasant.

But as "Blonde" crosses well past the two-hour mark, sliding deeper and deeper into a nightmare, the picture becomes a disgusting, at times unbearably repulsive horror film, writes David Rooney.

The critic gives an example of an episode from which, in his opinion, the picture "went off the rails."

This is the scene where Marilyn Monroe performs oral sex on Kennedy.

“It is from this scene (with its quasi-pornographic details, which undoubtedly determine the 18+ rating) that the film begins to steadily go downhill,” says Rooney.

The expert considers the film quite emotional, especially in some biographical scenes.

The critic is sure that Ana de Armas does not prevaricate in her game and was able to feel the pain experienced by the Hollywood star.

However, the ending of the tragic fate of the heroine, in his opinion, is shown on the screen tastelessly, and de Armas deserves the best, in fact, like Marilyn Monroe herself.  

Leslie Felperin writes in her review for The Guardian that "Blonde", like other versions of biographical works about the iconic person, is full of historical distortions, rumors and fictional episodes.

Among them, for example, is the one where Monroe lives in a polyamorous family with the sons of Charlie Chaplin and Edward G. Robinson.

The psychological basis of the film, Felperin called the old school of Hollywood according to Freud, as it has a clear emphasis on the fact that Marilyn has been sexually exploited and abused all her life by many - from the head of the Fox studio to the same Kennedy.

“Some viewers may feel that at times the film itself stumbles into problematic exploitation,” the critic writes.

• © Shot from the film "Blonde"

The expert doubts that the public will enthusiastically accept a new reading of Monroe's life and wish to return to the film years later.

“Will we continue to idolize Marilyn and watch her films for another 70 years?

Perhaps, but I doubt that anyone will be with the same trepidation about the "Blonde", sums up the film critic of The Guardian.

The theme of exploitation in the film was also noticed by Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair.

"Blonde", which is partly about exploitation, may not be without it herself.

If the film is aware of this meta function of its own, then something interesting is going on here.

If not, and (Andrew. -

) Dominic believes that he sincerely sings of Marilyn and expresses some incredible sympathy for her, then “Blonde” is slightly wrong, ”the expert believes.

He calls the film a three-hour descent into the rabbit hole of Marilyn Monroe's misery, where she transforms from abused, unloved child into a star who struggles to assert herself in this way.

Lawson notes the bold and complex editing of the picture, and, joining his colleagues, the truthful performance of Ana de Armas.

“The film hypnotizes even in those moments when it excites,” the expert believes.

According to film producer and critic Katherine Bray (Empire), Joyce Carol Oates' book reveals a fuller picture of the light and dark moments of Marilyn Monroe's life and her inner ambitions.

Bray writes that Monroe was smart and worked hard, using various opportunities, for the sake of fame, but in the tape the viewer sees her path to fame rather vaguely, the emphasis is on her painful relationships with men.

The critic believes that the task of the authors of each biopic is to choose the angle from which the celebrity will be shown.

In "Blonde" Monroe appears as a lost girl who calls almost every man "daddy" and reacts to failures in life with a childish whiny expression on her face.

Because of this, according to Bray, there is no feeling that every trouble makes the legendary artist grow.

“Despite the very strong acting work of Ana de Armas, it seems that her wings were clipped - throughout the entire impressive timing of the picture, it is only occasionally felt that Monroe is changing under the influence of her experience,” the expert writes.

Catherine Bray notes that despite this, the film has spectacular moments that can surprise the viewer.

The tape will be released on the Netflix video service on September 28, 2022.