Released: 28th September 2022 (Netflix)
Length: 166 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Director: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Ana De Armas, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson and Evan Williams
In recent years, many biopics have focused heavily on the price of fame, a darker side that lay behind some of the biggest cultural icons. The latest effort, Blonde, focuses on Marilyn Monroe, severely botching the execution from start to finish.
Beginning with the young Norma Jeane (Lily Fisher) being taken into an orphanage, the film charts Marilyn Monroe’s (Ana De Armas) rise to fame and eventual fall from addiction and psychological breakdown. Blonde attempts to blend the actress’s star power with a collection of degenerative breakdowns behind the scenes. A set of titles mark the timeline between the 1920s and 1960s. Her life and legacy were clearly very complicated but Blonde veers too far in one direction; violent victimisation. At many points, Marilyn is abused both physically and mentally throughout the long running time, rarely stopping to allow for development as a person. The way Blonde tells its story is too jumbled and graphic, focusing heavily on an ugly spectacle. The film also has a misguided obsession with Marilyn’s absent father and it constantly forces its way into many scenes, as if it was the celebrity’s most crippling flaw and the source of all her emotional pain. All told, the story feels incredibly forced and this makes the physical and emotional trauma feel particularly mean-spirited.
Ana De Armas has an intense role to play and for what it’s worth, she balances lavish show business and internal breakdown very well. Her emotions are raw, often powerfully conveyed at times. It’s unfortunate that her performance is let down by the hackneyed narrative. This is the only meaningful performance on display as everyone else is short-changed. Characters enter and exit the stage at random intervals with barely any time given to development. The most notable examples are Marilyn’s mother Gladys (Julianne Nicholson) and her second husband Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody) who are both reduced to basic archetypes. Outside of interactions with De Armas, they feel like cardboard cut-outs, brought in as an obligation to Marilyn’s story. It’s a shame too as many of the attached names have delivered strong period-piece performances before. Aside from representing the more controversial elements of the time period, other characters don’t contribute much at all.
There are some very strange presentation methods across the board as well, starting with the changing aspect ratio and colour scheme; one moment it uses the 4:3 letterbox format and the next it cuts to widescreen in full colour. It tries to be artsy without tying in to Marilyn’s life and struggles, barring the rare occasion where she slips into hallucinations. The same is also true of the lighting; flashing whites and other bright lens flares feel more intrusive than anything else, rarely resulting in an inventive scene transition. The soundtrack makes use of synths and other eighties instruments which really don’t fit the time period. This is meant to create a hazy, atmospheric view of Monroe’s mental state, but the score sticks out for the wrong reasons. The costume work and set designs do fare a lot better, capturing the look and feel of Hollywood’s golden age, but everything else is poorly placed.
As capable as Ana De Armas is in the lead role, Blonde is messy, muddled and far too focused on showing the dark side of Marilyn Monroe. The creative choices made here are incredibly baffling and the film itself drags on, laying out a torrent of exploitative abuse that overrules both nuance and depth. You should avoid this biopic; it isn’t worth your time.
Rating: 1.5/5 Stars (Bad)
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