★★★★ Watched 12 Feb, 2023

No matter the movie or documentary I see about Marylyn Monroe I can’t stay indifferent. She remains a deeply interesting and tragic human being. This story is but a snippet of her life which happened to be a cornerstone of her career. My guess is only a few people knew her privately or at least that aspect of her life (Colin Clark would be one of those that passed through her life), but perhaps at the end of the day, no one ever did get to know her for real.

One can watch this movie with no prior knowledge, but if you know something about where she was in her life at that point, where she came from, and where she went after that, you will get much more out of it. Small off-hand comments and references will carry more weight. Why was she so desperately seeking genuine human contact and why she felt she had to look for solace in alcohol and drugs (prescribed and otherwise)?

As with every portrayal, every new actress brings her own take and twist on Marilyn, and Michelle Williams did a great job. The movie does not shy away from showing her troublesome side but also makes sure we ultimately know how everyone around her (especially key characters skillfully played by Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Redmayne) truly felt about her natural talent and charisma.

We are presented with traces of her exploitation by Hollywood, but if you want to really feel how it might have been walking in Norma Jeane’s (her real name) shoes, I would recommend misunderstood Blonde (2022).

Source: Letterboxd
Info: IMDb