“Blonde” Review
Ana De Armas delivers a breathtaking, brave and immersive performance as Norma Jeane Mortensen/Marilyn Monroe in “Blonde,” one of 2022’s most controversial films.
It’s hard to find a mainstream film this year that is as controversial amongst critics and audiences as “Blonde,” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and on Netflix last month. In many respects, “Blonde” delivers exactly what was promised: a hard core look into the life of Marilyn Monroe that pulls no punches. However, the film may have overdid it because instead of walking away shaken but informed, I felt just shaken without as much insight into Norma Jeane Mortensen.
It’s important to know that the film isn’t a biopic. It’s instead based on the semi-fictional novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates which ended up being a finalist for a Pulitzer. “Blonde” depicts the life of Norma Jeane (Ana De Armas) from childhood until her death as she becomes a successful actress, is married to some of the most famous people in America and is hailed as an icon. However, beneath this fairytale is a painful reality which depicts a darker version of this Cinderella story.
While I think most people know the story of Marilyn Monroe, I don’t think enough people give her credit for how talented she actually was. Whether it was being a dramatic actor in “The Misfits” or a comic actor in “Some Like It Hot,” Monroe definitely had an understanding of good acting that died with her. Now, she’s an icon. So, I do respect the filmmakers for trying to strip that away and depict the person instead of the sex symbol.
At the heart of that is Ana De Armas who is absolutely spectacular. Much like Austin Butler did in “Elvis,” Ana De Armas takes on an icon with a performance that never feels like an impersonation. Thus, she disappears into this role and completely embodies Norma Jeane.
I also appreciate the direction that Andrew Dominik (who also wrote the film) took by telling this story with a more abstract and artistic direction. By changing aspect ratios and color schemes constantly, Dominik tries to make “Blonde” feel less like a Hollywood movie and more like a series of intimate moments all cut together. In many regards, he was a good choice to direct the film because of his work of taking mythic stories and peeling off the legend like he did in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
Bobby Cannavale stars in “Blonde” as Joe DiMaggio, although he’s credited in the book and film as “the ex-athlete,” Marilyn Monroe’s second husband. Several scenes of the film were shot to look like candid photographs taken of Monroe during her life.
One of the film’s biggest questions that viewers and critics have tried to answer is whether the film is exploitative of the story it’s trying to tell. In my opinion, yes and no. While the film definitely is graphic, I never got the sense it was to make money or use it to boost careers or any of the other reasons why stories are exploited. If they were trying to exploit the story, the filmmakers definitely wouldn’t have made “Blonde” with a more artsy direction and it wouldn’t have been rated NC-17.
With that said, this is one of the toughest films I’ve had to watch this year because of how graphic the story is. I don’t usually like to attach trigger warnings to my reviews because I usually leave it up to the audience if they want to see a film. So I say this now, if you think that this film is going to be upsetting to you, you probably shouldn’t watch it.
“Blonde” absolutely earns the NC-17 rating with its graphic portrayal of sexual assault, mental illness and marital abuse amongst other things. At times, I felt that the scenes showed too much and could have taken a subtler approach. Not that the film should have shied away from these events in Monroe’s life but, after a while, you start to become desensitized to it all which should not be the case.
This film is nearly three hours long and it definitely could have been cut by at least 20-25 minutes. So much of “Blonde” consists of terrible things happening to Norma Jeane but I never felt like I understood how these events affected her. Her acting career is barely touched upon except to show her descent into mental illness and there’s very little about the artist behind the icon.
Despite amazing performances by Ana De Armas and the rest of the cast, as well as a brave and bold way of telling this story. It’s ultimately too much focus in the wrong areas which undoes “Blonde.” If you want to understand Norma Jeane and how the mantle of Marilyn Monroe was thrust upon her, I don’t think that the film fully delivered. “Blonde” tries to tell a rich story which comments on exploitation but fails to truly show the damage of it all.
