I'm sure what I'm about to say will be a shock to a lot of my regular readers and to a lot of my friends too. I have never seen a Marilyn Monroe film. I don't consider myself a fan of hers and in truth I've never been that intrigued or beguiled by her as most people are. I am however, intrigued by the way she died. As a lot of people are. I think there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
I also think she was beautiful, a shining star of her era, and I think her death was a tragedy because she never got to reach her full potential. That's why, despite my lack of enthusiasm towards Marilyn herself, I wanted to see this adaptation of a supposedly true story. A window into the life of one of the most iconic women in the world.
The film is set during the time that Ms Monroe (Michelle Williams) spent in England filming 'The Prince and the Showgirl' with Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). The third assistant director on 'The Prince and the Showgirl' was Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), who had been hired as a favour to a relative who worked for the studio making the film. During his time on set Colin gets to know Marilyn and becomes one of the few people she trusts and she relies on him as a confidante. They become ever closer when Marilyn's husband, playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), leaves the UK to go back to his children in the US, leaving Marilyn in a strange country and feeling alienated from the cast and crew who she's convinced all hate her.
I saw this movie with my best friend who is a lifelong Marilyn fan. And what a difference this made, it gave me an insight into the 'true story' this film is based on that I wouldn't have otherwise had. I was reliably informed that a lot of 'borrowing' went on in this film, something which has been backed up by articles I've read since seeing it. Things we know happened have been interwoven into the screenplay to make everything else all the more convincing.
Colin Clark's memoirs after all can't really be contested, as the one person who could confirm or deny their contents wasn't here when the books were published. And although the film doesn't quite confirm an affair between the two it is certainly implied that they were very close. And no matter how lonely Marilyn felt, I find it hard to believe she would have been so open and 'friendly' with a guy like Colin.
I digress however as this is a review of the film and not my opinion on a book I've never read. Though it's hard to review one without mentioning the other. One of the main reasons I wanted to see this (as I'm not a Marilyn fan) was Michelle Williams. As mentioned in my Blue Valentine review, I have been a fan of Miss Williams for a number of years now. And while she is good in the title role, she's not at her best. I would definitely say "don't believe the hype" in this case, that way you might be pleasantly surprised rather than mildly disappointed with her performance. You can tell that she's put a lot of research into her character, and it pays off to some extent, but she just doesn't quite pull off Marilyn.
But then I defy you to find someone who could. This is the problem with making films about film stars of old. They had old school Hollywood glamour on their side, they were icons of the silver screen. How does one imitate that? Clearly the answer is that they don't as Michelle, try as she might, just can't capture that star quality that Marilyn seemed to ooze from every inch of her. I mentioned above that I've never seen a Marilyn Monroe film. This is true. I have however seen bits of Marilyn Monroe films. And seen enough images and interviews etc to believe I know what I'm talking about when I say she oozed star quality. There's a reason she's the icon she is, no-one has come close to matching her je ne sais quoi. Whatever it was that she had that made her so appealing, no other movie star has ever captured it. And I don't think they ever will.
That said, Michelle Williams does a good job of an impossible task and you don't come away annoyed or angered by her performance. And I think that's the most you can hope for. Branagh and Dench on the other hand are both fabulous in their respective roles of Sir Olivier and Dame Thorndike. Dench doesn't have an awful lot to do but you relish every time she's on screen and she fills her character with such likability that I can only hope Sybil was as nice in real life. And from the little I've seen of Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl I think Branagh's portrayal of him is spot on. Unfortunately for Branagh I imagine he'll be largely overlooked as all the talk will be about Williams. Finally, Redmayne, although still a little too weird looking for my tastes, is fittingly bland in his role of Colin. That's not to say he's not good, it's just that his is the least showy of all the lead roles and he plays this to perfection. Support is ably supplied by Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson and Zoe Wanamaker amongst others.
Overall, an interesting, if a little indulgent film but one which I imagine is more fiction than fact. 7 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 28th November 2011
UK Release Date - 25th November 2011
Cast Overview:
Michelle Williams ~ Marilyn Monroe
Eddie Redmayne ~ Colin Clark
Kenneth Branagh ~ Sir Laurence Olivier
Judi Dench ~ Dame Sybil Thorndike
Emma Watson ~ Lucy
Julia Ormond ~ Vivien Leigh
Dominic Cooper ~ Milton Greene
Dougray Scott ~ Arthur Miller
Zoe Wanamaker ~ Paula Strasberg
Derek Jacobi ~ Sir Owen Morshead
Geraldine Somerville ~ Lady Jane Clark
Michael Kitchen ~ Hugh Perceval
Toby Jones ~ Arthur Jacobs
Jim Carter ~ Barry
Director ~ Simon Curtis
Writer(s) ~ Adrian Hodges (Screenplay) and Colin Clark (based on his books 'My Week With Marilyn' and 'The Prince, the Showgirl and Me')
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