Andrew Dominik’s Blonde hasn’t been able to impress cinemagoers all that much, dividing opinions right down the middle and making many question whether the movie is supposed to be a homage to Marilyn Monroe’s life or just a sad parody of it, neither succeeding in getting any message across nor leaving a lasting impression on its viewers.
That obviously didn’t stop the crew from giving it their 100% percent, and they must have felt the incredible weight of portraying one of the most celebrated actresses in history, and from a controversially intimate lens, no less. In a recent with Another, Ana de Armas doubled down on that reverence by revealing that they got a big card and everyone from the crew wrote a heartfelt message on it for Monroe.
“We got this big card and everyone in the crew wrote a message to her,” she said. “Then we went to the cemetery and put it on her grave. We were asking for permission in a way. Everyone felt a huge responsibility, and we were very aware of the side of the story we were going to tell — the story of Norma Jeane, the person behind this character, Marilyn Monroe. Who was she really?”
Who was Marilyn Monroe, really? That seems to be the beating heart of Blonde, the question that gave it life in the first place. Now, the movie may fail to provide an answer to that, as many claim it has, but beyond all the objective criticism leveled at Dominik and de Armas’ creation, there is something to be said about the star’s otherworldly performance and how she brought an icon of cinema back to life on the big screens, even if briefly.
Blonde is currently playing in theaters, but the movie will be making its way to streaming via Netflix in just a week. You can read our review of the film from critic Alejandra Martinez here.
