Marilyn Monroe was iconic in every sort of way as she was controversial in so many others. Battered and bruised all her life, she was very lonely and unhappy. Even as a child, her mother abused her, holding her responsible for her father leaving them. In fact, she tries burning the child, and drowning her in the bathtub. Eventually, the mother was admitted in psychiatric care, and Norma Jeane, as Marilyn was known before she hit the screen and stardom, had to grow up in an orphanage.
All this is there in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, a Netflix offering (hopefully we in India would soon be able to watch it on the telly), which premiered at the 79th edition of the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.
Blonde is a fictionalised chronicle of Monroe’s life, based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 book by the same name.
At a press conference, which followed the screening, Cuban-Spanish actress Ana de Armas (remember her in Sergio and Knives Out?), who plays Miss Monroe, said she felt close to the Hollywood legend during the shoot in 2019.
“She was all I thought about, all I dreamed about, all I could talk about. She was with me,” Ana said.
“All of us feel so much respect and responsibility to do good and to honour her. It was beautiful; she was happy, but she would also throw things off the walls sometimes and get mad when she didn’t like something,” said de Armas describing Monroe’s character. “I truly believe she was very close to us, she was with us [during production]. Being in the same places that she was, filming in her house – it was a very strong sensation, there was something in the air. She was approving of what we were doing. I didn’t want to protect myself from that.”
Ana’s eyes welled up when asked about what the role will do to her career. “I did this movie to push myself and because I thought it was a gift to myself; I didn’t do the it to make other people change their opinion about me,” she responded. “Whatever happens, it’s the experience I take with me. This film changed my life. It will be what it will be.”
De Armas’ co-star Adrien Brody felt that the movie would promote and sustain Monroe’s legacy. He plays playwright Arthur Miller and was married to Marilyn.
“The fact that she’s so revered and so loved by men and women alike, and yet her inner struggle and her sadness and all the unresolved traumatic moments in her life never left her is almost criminal to me,” said Brody. “We’re very fortunate to have people like Andrew and Ana who are able to pour in their artistic sensibilities to represent something that is lost upon most people. It’s very meaningful; it’s good for her legacy and good for us as a community.”
Australian director Dominik said the movie “fits into a long tradition of ‘female anxiety films’.”
“We were chasing her ghost around. We started shooting on August 4, which was the anniversary of her death. The room she dies in [in the film] is the room she died in; her dust is everywhere in Los Angeles. It definitely took on elements of being like a séance.”
