Blonde follows the life of Marilyn Monroe, loosely driven from the fictional book of the same title by Joyce Carol Oates. The film gave a riddling and breathtaking story that will undyingly keep viewers on an uncomfortable edge throughout the entire film.
Blonde is a double edged knife because as much as you may enjoy this film, it will still leave a bad taste in your mouth. The film gave a beautiful and masterfully set environment. Then punished the viewer with a distasteful narrative.
Ana de Armas deserves an applause for her portrayal of Marylin Monroe in Blonde. She was the most memorable part of this film. The dark but beautiful environment enticed the eyes, in contrast to Ana’s natural beauty as she swayed across the screen radiating passion and love for the role. Ana single handedly brought this film to life. Along the side of outstanding makeup artists, top notch cinematography and an amazing set design, Ana stole the show.
After the beauty and lavish environment set in, viewers were left with a very dark depiction of Monroe; one that became very hard to watch. The dark nature surrounding the objectifying culture of Hollywood was baffling and horrifying. Not even Ana could save the film.
Ana de Armas’ envious performance shows her raw talent. Most aspiring actors should look at this role because Ana proves that no matter how great the acting is, a movie script can ruin the entire film, as Ana’s portrayal of Monroe was as good as the script would let her be. If it wasn’t for her, the movie would be completely dismissible at best. The exploitation of her body made it very clear that Andrew Dominik was not far off from the horrific Hollywood stereotypes he depicted in this movie.
The mistreatment of women is a sickening topic, and this was a film almost glamorizing the topic. The deep psychological take on Monroe could have been depicted, in so many ways. It could have shown the corruption and mistreatment she faced without making the viewer sick. Armas tried her hardest to keep the integrity of Monroe alive while maintaining the terrible direction this film went.
Picture Credit: Matt Kennedy/Netflix
The director Andrew Dominik showed he did not understand Monroe, nor did he understanded the pride she was known to carry. She inspired generations to carry on her work. The pride and empowering footprint she left behind in Hollywood is glamorous and well-respected. Not something we should disrespect, and slander upon. Dominik showed he did not understand the message a lot of fans took from Monroe’s life. Dominik chose not to glorify the happy moments. Instead he glamorized the negative.
Andrew was searching for the meaning of Monroe. In his search, he leaves the viewers with a very lost depiction of Monroe. With a very loose plot point, about the psychological battles Monroe faced. In the end the story as a whole was left very empty, when the story itself had so much potential.
Its problem was it being fueled by the fictional book, stacked on top of unproven conspiracy theories and disrespecting some of the greatest names in history. This film left a feeling that no one really knew the true Monroe, and left the viewers with a lost film… a piece of cinema most will sadly forget about, not leaving a memorable message.
The assumptions made by the people who created this film and the book are so mind-blowing that something can come so far into production without raising any eyebrows. Blonde was a missed opportunity, corrupted by the film industry. It shows everything wrong with Hollywood, such as how exploitation gives the wrong people power, control and money. What Blonde did not show was the good aspects of Monroe’s life.
Blonde is a very solid six out of ten. If it wasn’t for the direction of this film following fictional source material to depict a biography, it could have been amazing. It’s astonishing that Netflix wanted to fund a fictional story of Monroe. When she had so much source material, they really could have had a hit here. Too bad it was a miss.
Casey Black
Contributor
