Even six decades after her untimely passing, Marilyn Monroe’s stardom has never faded. As the interest in her pop culture iconography continues to surge, so does the level of public respect for her talent. Her ubiquity puts any actress who portrays her under automatic scrutiny, as “Blonde” star Ana de Armas can certainly attest. Her embodiment of the seminal movie star in the Netflix film was an undertaking she “knew from the beginning [would] be very challenging.” Watch her and several more members of the “Blonde” cast and crew expound on her transformation in the exclusive video feature above.
Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” is adapted from the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name, which is a work of biographical fiction about the actress who was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. De Armas says her “passion for this project came from understanding Norma” and that she took care to find “moments where Norma was there,...
Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” is adapted from the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name, which is a work of biographical fiction about the actress who was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. De Armas says her “passion for this project came from understanding Norma” and that she took care to find “moments where Norma was there,...
- 11/21/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Blonde presents a singular vision of Norma Jeane Baker, the troubled soul who played host to Marilyn Monroe. The film makes no claim to being the definitive account of her life. Instead, in adapting Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name, director Andrew Dominik tells the story of a tragic figure who died by overdose at the age of 36.
Dominik presents the threads of this death in an experimental, expressionistic nightmare. The aspect ratio is redrawn throughout, narrowing and widening. The palette alternates between full colour and stark monochrome. There are numerous handheld moments, too, as well as various effects that range from the ghoulish to the arrestingly beautiful. All of this gothic visual splendour is scored by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, whose work is hauntingly ambient. Blonde is a truly aesthetic experience and perhaps the greatest example of Dominik’s dark, inventive artistry.
Again, it must be...
Dominik presents the threads of this death in an experimental, expressionistic nightmare. The aspect ratio is redrawn throughout, narrowing and widening. The palette alternates between full colour and stark monochrome. There are numerous handheld moments, too, as well as various effects that range from the ghoulish to the arrestingly beautiful. All of this gothic visual splendour is scored by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, whose work is hauntingly ambient. Blonde is a truly aesthetic experience and perhaps the greatest example of Dominik’s dark, inventive artistry.
Again, it must be...
- 10/24/2022
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Dir: Andrew Dominik. Starring: Ana de Armas, Julianne Nicholson, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale. Cert 18, 165 minutes
Never mind the diamonds. I’ll tell you who isn’t a girl’s best friend: Andrew Dominik, the writer-director of Blonde, a merciless, dull, over-long riff on Marilyn Monroe. Across its lengthy running time, the Hollywood star has a time of it. She is nearly drowned by her mother. Raped at an audition. Forced into an abortion. Harangued by the unborn foetus she’s about to abort. Attacked by a husband she calls “daddy”. It’s no exaggeration to say that she cries in almost every scene. To borrow a phrase, if you can’t handle Marilyn Monroe as an adult woman in possession of agency, you sure as hell don’t deserve to make an almost-three-hour film about her.
But Blonde is not a bad film because it is degrading, exploitative and misogynist,...
Never mind the diamonds. I’ll tell you who isn’t a girl’s best friend: Andrew Dominik, the writer-director of Blonde, a merciless, dull, over-long riff on Marilyn Monroe. Across its lengthy running time, the Hollywood star has a time of it. She is nearly drowned by her mother. Raped at an audition. Forced into an abortion. Harangued by the unborn foetus she’s about to abort. Attacked by a husband she calls “daddy”. It’s no exaggeration to say that she cries in almost every scene. To borrow a phrase, if you can’t handle Marilyn Monroe as an adult woman in possession of agency, you sure as hell don’t deserve to make an almost-three-hour film about her.
But Blonde is not a bad film because it is degrading, exploitative and misogynist,...
- 9/30/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - Film
Dir: Andrew Dominik. Starring: Ana de Armas, Julianne Nicholson, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale. Cert 18, 165 minutes
Never mind the diamonds. I’ll tell you who isn’t a girl’s best friend: Andrew Dominik, the writer-director of Blonde, a merciless, dull, over-long riff on Marilyn Monroe. Across its lengthy running time, the Hollywood star has a time of it. She is nearly drowned by her mother. Raped at an audition. Forced into an abortion. Harangued by the unborn foetus she’s about to abort. Attacked by a husband she calls “daddy”. It’s no exaggeration to say that she cries in almost every scene. To borrow a phrase, if you can’t handle Marilyn Monroe as an adult woman in possession of agency, you sure as hell don’t deserve to make an almost-three-hour film about her.
But Blonde is not a bad film because it is degrading, exploitative and misogynist,...
Never mind the diamonds. I’ll tell you who isn’t a girl’s best friend: Andrew Dominik, the writer-director of Blonde, a merciless, dull, over-long riff on Marilyn Monroe. Across its lengthy running time, the Hollywood star has a time of it. She is nearly drowned by her mother. Raped at an audition. Forced into an abortion. Harangued by the unborn foetus she’s about to abort. Attacked by a husband she calls “daddy”. It’s no exaggeration to say that she cries in almost every scene. To borrow a phrase, if you can’t handle Marilyn Monroe as an adult woman in possession of agency, you sure as hell don’t deserve to make an almost-three-hour film about her.
But Blonde is not a bad film because it is degrading, exploitative and misogynist,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - Film
“Blonde” is now streaming on Netflix after first premiering at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and initial reviews have praised Ana De Armas’ performance as Norma Jeane Baker, known more broadly to the world as Marilyn Monroe.
“Blonde” is based on the historical fiction book of the same title by Joyce Carol Oates, and it follows her beginnings of fame from her childhood and abrupt placement in an orphanage after her mother is sent to a mental hospital. Her career in Holywood leads to involvement with Charlie Chaplin Jr. (Xavier Samuel) and Edward G. Robinson Jr. (Evan Williams) before marrying retired baseball player Joe Dimaggio (Bobby Cannavale) and then “The Crucible” playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody).
For a full rundown of who plays who, check out our complete “Blonde” cast and character guide below.
“Blonde” is based on the historical fiction book of the same title by Joyce Carol Oates, and it follows her beginnings of fame from her childhood and abrupt placement in an orphanage after her mother is sent to a mental hospital. Her career in Holywood leads to involvement with Charlie Chaplin Jr. (Xavier Samuel) and Edward G. Robinson Jr. (Evan Williams) before marrying retired baseball player Joe Dimaggio (Bobby Cannavale) and then “The Crucible” playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody).
For a full rundown of who plays who, check out our complete “Blonde” cast and character guide below.
- 9/28/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
"Blonde," the new movie starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, is more inspired by the legendary actor's story than it is a retelling of her life. However, there are parts that stick pretty close to the facts we know about her.
The film is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's novel of the same name, and director Andrew Dominik told BFI in an interview published Sept. 27 that the decision to adapt the novel is why there are so many factual changes to the story he tells. He explained, "I've read everything there is to read about Marilyn Monroe. I've met people that knew her. I've done an enormous amount of research. But in the end, it's about the book. And adapting the book is really about adapting the feelings that the book gave me. I see the film, in some ways, as Joyce's vision of Marilyn, which is also really Joyce.
The film is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's novel of the same name, and director Andrew Dominik told BFI in an interview published Sept. 27 that the decision to adapt the novel is why there are so many factual changes to the story he tells. He explained, "I've read everything there is to read about Marilyn Monroe. I've met people that knew her. I've done an enormous amount of research. But in the end, it's about the book. And adapting the book is really about adapting the feelings that the book gave me. I see the film, in some ways, as Joyce's vision of Marilyn, which is also really Joyce.
- 9/27/2022
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
Glossy horror perpetuates the tradition of portraying the brilliant actor as an infantile, sacrificial sex-lamb on the altar of celebrity
Here is a horror film about the life of Marilyn Monroe, based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates: a glossily expensive nightmare about the great movie actor as bleating sacrificial sex-lamb on the altar of celebrity. Andrew Dominik’s movie throbs with her radioactive victimhood.
It benefits from a showstopping central performance by Cuban-Spanish actor Ana de Armas, who eerily incarnates the legendary star with a weird little hint of Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, although it is Marilyn’s impending and repeated childlessness which is shown as the real emanation of evil. Like Polanski’s stricken heroine, she is surrounded by a secretly complicit male priest-caste: a brotherhood of misogyny, exploitation and rape, including doctors, agents, producers, directors, early lovers (the movie amplifies Hollywood-Babylon-type rumours about Charlie...
Here is a horror film about the life of Marilyn Monroe, based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates: a glossily expensive nightmare about the great movie actor as bleating sacrificial sex-lamb on the altar of celebrity. Andrew Dominik’s movie throbs with her radioactive victimhood.
It benefits from a showstopping central performance by Cuban-Spanish actor Ana de Armas, who eerily incarnates the legendary star with a weird little hint of Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, although it is Marilyn’s impending and repeated childlessness which is shown as the real emanation of evil. Like Polanski’s stricken heroine, she is surrounded by a secretly complicit male priest-caste: a brotherhood of misogyny, exploitation and rape, including doctors, agents, producers, directors, early lovers (the movie amplifies Hollywood-Babylon-type rumours about Charlie...
- 9/21/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Plot: An impressionistic depiction of the life of Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas), from her early days as Norma Jeane Mortenson to her eventual crowning as perhaps the biggest sex symbol of the 20th century.
Review: Andrew Dominik’s Blonde is a movie to wrestle with. It’s a work of art whose craft cannot be diminished, but it’s also an incredibly tough watch, ranking as one of the most intense, upsetting films in recent years. While the Nc-17 rating is ridiculous, it’s still not for the faint of heart, shining a light on the lurid side of celebrity and the psychological and physical cost of being a sex goddess.
One thing Blonde is not is a fact-based account of Marilyn Monroe’s life. Like the book by Joyce Carol Oates that it’s based on, the movie is an impressionistic fictionalization of Monroe’s life. Some of the more provocative moments,...
Review: Andrew Dominik’s Blonde is a movie to wrestle with. It’s a work of art whose craft cannot be diminished, but it’s also an incredibly tough watch, ranking as one of the most intense, upsetting films in recent years. While the Nc-17 rating is ridiculous, it’s still not for the faint of heart, shining a light on the lurid side of celebrity and the psychological and physical cost of being a sex goddess.
One thing Blonde is not is a fact-based account of Marilyn Monroe’s life. Like the book by Joyce Carol Oates that it’s based on, the movie is an impressionistic fictionalization of Monroe’s life. Some of the more provocative moments,...
- 9/20/2022
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
How much dramatic license is excessive? Do artists have a responsibility to create positive representations around public figures, especially if they’re beloved and inspire reams of adulation and pity from admirers? Andrew Dominik, with his long, long-awaited adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel Blonde—a free biography of the life of Marilyn Monroe—maybe simply doesn’t care about these questions. Yet he undoubtedly cares about the real life––and especially the fragile inner world––of his subject, famously born Norma Jeane Desmond. But in his unforgiving portrait of her travails and lacks in this world he bravely gambles on (and will potentially lose) the majority of his audience’s good faith by focusing so heavily on the pain and affliction she endured.
For those very familiar with Marilyn Monroe, Blonde, running a fluidly edited two hours and 45 minutes, is not going to be revelatory; it certainly doesn’t...
For those very familiar with Marilyn Monroe, Blonde, running a fluidly edited two hours and 45 minutes, is not going to be revelatory; it certainly doesn’t...
- 9/9/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
Images of Marilyn Monroe are the most replicated of any actress to emerge since the dawn of cinema. Her peroxide curls, cupid’s bow pout, and va-va-voom figure are recognizable to the point that her marketing potential has long since overwhelmed the matter of who she was as a person. To take a swing at saying — or showing — something resonant about the woman born Norma Jeane Mortenson, a storyteller would have to go to lengths far greater than Andrew Dominik is able to span in his
Much like Asaf Kapadia did with his documentary, “Amy,” Dominik critiques the world for reducing his subject down to her topline assets — and then treats her in exactly the same way. His Marilyn is a sexy, breathy blonde with daddy issues. And that’s all, folks.
Well, not quite all, as “Blonde” sets out to show a lifetime of victimization and exploitation. The film...
Much like Asaf Kapadia did with his documentary, “Amy,” Dominik critiques the world for reducing his subject down to her topline assets — and then treats her in exactly the same way. His Marilyn is a sexy, breathy blonde with daddy issues. And that’s all, folks.
Well, not quite all, as “Blonde” sets out to show a lifetime of victimization and exploitation. The film...
- 9/8/2022
- by Sophie Monks Kaufman
- Indiewire
Billy Wilder movies, Johnny Carson interviews tonight on TCM Billy Wilder is Turner Classic Movies’ Director of the Evening tonight, July 8, 2013. But before Wilder Evening begins, TCM will be presenting a series of brief interviews from The Tonight Show, back in the old Johnny Carson days — or rather, nights. The Carson interviewees this evening are Doris Day, Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis, Chevy Chase, and Steve Martin. (See also: Doris Day today.) (Photo: Billy Wilder.) As for Billy Wilder, TCM will be showing the following: Some Like It Hot (1959), The Fortune Cookie (1966), The Spirit of St. Louis (1958), and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Of course, all of those have been shown before and are widely available. Some Like It Hot vs. The Major and the Minor: Subversive and subversiver Some Like It Hot is perhaps Billy Wilder’s best-known film. This broad comedy featuring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis...
- 7/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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