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Ana de Armas' NC-17 Marilyn Monroe Movie Praised By Original Author
Blonde author Joyce Carol Oates praises Netflix's NC-17-rated Marilyn Monroe biopic starring Ana de Armas. Oates published the fictionalized biography in 2000, which traces the life of Norma Jeane Baker, aka Marilyn Monroe, from a small-town American girl to a Hollywood starlet, encompassing the many trials and tribulations of that journey. Director Andrew Dominik took on the new adaptation of Blonde for Netflix, which is the first of their original content to garner an NC-17 rating.
CBS adapted Blonde in 2001 as a mini-series, which starred Poppy Montgomery as Monroe, which was a less controversial take on Oates' material than what Dominik has produced. The director has been vocal about the difficulty in delivering the film to Netflix with his vision intact, although he has praised the streamer for standing by his take on Blonde, rather than having him edit it down to an R-rating. Dominik has said that "There’s something in it to offend everyone" in Blonde and has stood by the rating, even though he disagrees with it, saying, "It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right?"
Oates has now seen Dominik's cut of Blonde and given her reaction to it (via Collider), saying that she believes the director "succeeded" in bringing her novel to life faithfully. She went on to say that she believes the director "immersed himself" in the perspective of Marilyn Monroe, avoiding the pitfalls of showing her life from the outside looking in. At over 700 pages, the novel is one of Oates' most ambitious works, which was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a daunting task to adapt into a feature-length film, but it appears Dominik pulled it off. Here's her quote:
Quote:
Andrew Dominik is a very brilliant director. I think he succeeded in showing the experience of Norma Jeane Baker from her perspective, rather than see it from the outside, the male gaze looking at a woman. He immersed himself in her perspective.
The author went on to praise Ana de Armas' performance in Blonde, saying that she endured roughly four hours of make-up to be transformed into the physical version of Marilyn Monroe. Oates likens the transformations of the cast as so accurate that it's like "they don’t really exist" as actors, presumably more like historical figures. She praises the "wonderful" talent of de Armas and says that watching her onscreen after her transformation into the character is "...like a fantastic image, but to make it a livelihood is to endure a good deal of anguish.”
Marilyn Monroe remains a cultural icon to this day, but much of her history is shrouded in her Hollywood image, rather than the realities of her journey to becoming a household name, which wasn't as easy, fair, or lucrative as one might think, especially during her era. A fascinating and tragic tale, the life of Marilyn Monroe will no doubt be revitalized with Dominik's film, which is already fraught with controversy over the NC-17 rating and long delays due to putting the film together in a way that satisfied both Dominik and Netflix. Having the author's approval can surely help entice more viewers to watch the film, but endorsements only go so far and it will be interesting to see the overall reception of the film when Blonde reaches Netflix subscribers in September.
