"Blonde", based on Joyce Carol Oates's fictionalized meditation on Marilyn Monroe, follows the iconic actress through various milestones in her life and career, some true, and some conjectural--and mostly all dark.
While this film has been met with great ire over its depictions of various graphic and exploitative elements of Marilyn Monroe's life and legacy, I found it to be a fairly strong (and at times relentless) tone poem not to be taken at face value. We know this is fictionalized, but the film melds truth and conjecture in attempt to find some strand of truth about its central character, who herself was a living, breathing human who was subject to such speculation and fascination both during and after her life.
The film admittedly does not have much of a plot to speak of, but I think it moves nicely and is best watched in such a way that the viewer allows the cavalcade of scenes and imagery to wash over them. Each vignette, be it emotionally excruciating or beautiful, builds a tragic portrait that is hard to look away from. Though a bit long in the tooth at nearly three hours, "Blonde" boasts stellar performances from all involved, and Ana de Armas's portrayal of Monroe is at times uncanny. The cinematography is stylish and there is plenty of cinematically playful imagery, such as shifting colors and aspect ratios that, though not necessarily profound, lend the film a hypnotic visual flair.
While the content here is certainly too grim for idealists (especially the camp of Monroe fans who fetishize her beauteous image), I felt the film overall came together as a bitter, splintered portrait that hit on the tragedy of Monroe's life, both in truth as well as in our imaginations. The fact is that none of us will ever really know Norma Jeane, and attempts to protect and covet any image of her, be it light or utterly mirthless, are futile. Like the book it is based upon, "Blonde" functions as a dark fantasy based on a complicated woman whose cultural presence exists in a magnitude that few do. The film stares long and hard into the darkness, but it should not be forgotten that this is not really a reflection of Monroe's entirety as a person--nor is it an attempt at finding the complete and utter truth. 7/10.
While this film has been met with great ire over its depictions of various graphic and exploitative elements of Marilyn Monroe's life and legacy, I found it to be a fairly strong (and at times relentless) tone poem not to be taken at face value. We know this is fictionalized, but the film melds truth and conjecture in attempt to find some strand of truth about its central character, who herself was a living, breathing human who was subject to such speculation and fascination both during and after her life.
The film admittedly does not have much of a plot to speak of, but I think it moves nicely and is best watched in such a way that the viewer allows the cavalcade of scenes and imagery to wash over them. Each vignette, be it emotionally excruciating or beautiful, builds a tragic portrait that is hard to look away from. Though a bit long in the tooth at nearly three hours, "Blonde" boasts stellar performances from all involved, and Ana de Armas's portrayal of Monroe is at times uncanny. The cinematography is stylish and there is plenty of cinematically playful imagery, such as shifting colors and aspect ratios that, though not necessarily profound, lend the film a hypnotic visual flair.
While the content here is certainly too grim for idealists (especially the camp of Monroe fans who fetishize her beauteous image), I felt the film overall came together as a bitter, splintered portrait that hit on the tragedy of Monroe's life, both in truth as well as in our imaginations. The fact is that none of us will ever really know Norma Jeane, and attempts to protect and covet any image of her, be it light or utterly mirthless, are futile. Like the book it is based upon, "Blonde" functions as a dark fantasy based on a complicated woman whose cultural presence exists in a magnitude that few do. The film stares long and hard into the darkness, but it should not be forgotten that this is not really a reflection of Monroe's entirety as a person--nor is it an attempt at finding the complete and utter truth. 7/10.