‘Blonde’ was a movie that was only talked about for a while due to Netflix’s refusal to release the montage of it made by Andrew Dominic. The platform eventually gave in, and then the conversation turned to the fact that it was the first film from the streaming company to receive the dreaded NC-17 age rating, considered by many to be little less than equivalent to porn.
Premiered during the last Venice Film Festival, ‘Blonde’ has divided critics. Yes, it is true that there is quite unanimity praising the interpretation of Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, but has otherwise proven to be a very divisive piece of work. For my part, I place myself among the defenders, to the point of considering it one of the best films of the year.
extreme and ambitious
The first thing to be clear about ‘Blonde’ is that it is not a typical biopic. Already the novel Joyce Carol Oates that he adapts was a fictionalized version of Monroe’s life and here Dominik has chosen to take that idea to the extreme, to the point that there are not a few who have pointed to a dehumanization of his protagonist, highlighting in turn that it would be very different if behind her was a director.
That being true, it’s also true that any film with any personality would change dramatically with a simple change of director, and If there is something left over ‘Blonde’ is personalityto the point that it would be more appropriate to speak of it as a kind of antibiopic that immerses us in a tumultuous life on all fronts.
From that start located in the childhood of the protagonist, Dominik places two fundamental ideas that dominate the film at all times. The first is the feeling of abandonment of the protagonist, something often associated with the figure of a father who marks her life by his absence rather than by what he was able to contribute to her as a child. This is something that Dominik directly influences in many moments and that even flies over Monroe’s different romantic relationships.
The other great dramatic axis of ‘Blonde’ is in the problems of Norma Jeane Mortenson to define herself as a person and to what extent the myth of Marilyn Monroe annulled her and how that is cracking her inside more and more.
This leads to Dominic put special emphasis on the pain instead of covering other aspects of Monroe’s life that some viewers will miss. Of those other aspects there are some details here and there, but ‘Blonde’ is not a happy film and even that is often used to feed the internal demons of the protagonist.
In fact, already her first experience of wanting to become an actress is marked by trauma and tearssomething that came from before and that does not stop growing throughout his life until he completely cancels it, even counting on the support of Hollywood to continue exploiting his figure regardless of the person behind the myth.
To illustrate, Dominik has no problem in flirt with different gendersthe drama being the dominant one, but there are deviations that lead the viewer to consider the surreal impact of certain moments, something that I suspect there will be those who will find it even grotesque, or even plunge into body horror territory, although there are times that it may seem more proper to speak of mental horror.
The gist here is build from an ever-present trauma, always resorting to what the collective imagination remembers about Monroe at all times. Dominik himself has explained that this was essential when changing from black and white to color or for the use of different formats, something that for the current public less familiar with the actress may seem random when it is not at all.
The question then is in the excesses that Dominik allows himself, since there are very uncomfortable scenes that show that he has wanted to take his proposal to the last consequences. For my part, there are images that make me repulsed, but I am also glad that they are there for how consistent they are with everything that has been raised. It is true that by removing some, ‘Blonde’ would be more accessible, but that is something that does not matter too much to the film.
What matters here is to offer an experience in which the sensory prevails over the narrative. With this I do not mean that ‘Blonde’ is a film in which what happens is not understood, but the narrative section is more dependent on conveying some ideas about the figure of Monroe and her mental state than on offering a detailed overview of the highlights of his career. And eye, those are also there.
I don’t want to forget either the extraordinary interpretation of an Ana de Armas who gets fully into a complicated and elusive characterWell, the idea here is more to immerse yourself in the soul of that image of Monroe that Dominik seeks to convey than anything else, and she gives herself completely and becomes the legendary actress. Any award they give him will be well deserved.
In short
‘Blonde’ is a one-of-a-kind movie called to be loved or hated. Of course there will be viewers who are somewhere in between, but what Dominik presents here is a commitment to excess but having very clear ideas about what he wants to achieve with it. And to that we must add the unbeatable contribution of Ana de Armas. Essential.
In Espinof: