Marilyn Monroe biopic ‘Blonde’ finally lands on Netflix
The Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde,” which was destined to be one of the most contentious movies of the year, finally premieres on Netflix on Wednesday after more than a decade of troublesome production.
The visceral lead performance by Ana de Armas has received almost universal acclaim, but critics are divided over whether the uncompromising, nearly three-hour film is an artistic triumph or just another form of cruel exploitation of the 20th-century icon.
“Blonde” is “guttural, instinctive, anguished filmmaking that bends space, time, and every cinematic tool at its disposal in service of achieving emotional truth,” according to ID magazine.
Alternatively, viewers may agree with the New Yorker’s Richard Brody, who called it “ridiculously vulgar,” describing Monroe’s on-screen torment as “a special kind of directorial sadism.”
In his adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s hit semi-fictional novel of the same name, Australian director Andrew Dominik pulls no punches.
Marilyn Monroe biopic ‘Blonde’ finally lands on Netflix
Monroe’s life is portrayed as one of constant abuse and anguish, from the trauma of a mentally unstable and violent mother to her rape at the hands of a studio boss to a particularly heinous scene with President John F. Kennedy.
Dominik spent 11 years trying to get the film made, and has credited the #MeToo movement against sexual assault with sparking interest in the story – though he reportedly fought Netflix for a long time over the film’s length and graphic scenes.
Armas told reporters at the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered earlier this month, that the role required her to go to “uncomfortable, dark, and vulnerable” places.
“She was all I could think about, all I could dream about, and all I could talk about. She was with me, and it was lovely,” She stated.
The crew shot in the actual locations where Monroe was born and died, and according to Dominik, the shoot “took on elements of a seance.”
