Blonde is a film I’ve been anticipating for quite some time. The trailers have been really great and showcased some very high quality cinematography and fine performances. I thought it was pretty much guaranteed that I would love this film given what I’d seen previewed and the talent involved. Unfortunately, while it’s technically well made and well performed, Blonde also has several glaring problems that hold it back. There’s a detachment from reality that’s far too prevalent and gets very tiresome. The other big flaw is the lack of any kind of heart. Pain and obstacles need to be portrayed but when that’s all you show for 2 and a half hours, in graphic detail, it’s hard to connect.
I hate that this film is bogged down by its excesses and over indulgence in both delusion and cruelty because what’s good in it really is very good. The performances by Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, and Bobby Cannavalle, are all very high quality. De Armas’s lead performance really is something special. She’s able to capture much of that Marilyn Monroe essence that’s so famous and endearing. I never saw her leave her character. It’s a tough job to portray such an iconic person, but De Armas does it very well. Brody also does a nice job playing one of Monroe’s husbands, Arthur Miller. It’s a small role but I was impressed with his low key performance.
The cinematography is something else to be admired about Blonde. The back and forth between black and white and vibrant old fashioned color is striking and beautiful. In addition, the makeup, hairstyling, and costume design are all near perfection; Ana de Armas really does look incredible done up as Monroe. She looks so much like her and the crew members that worked in these different departments should really be proud of their work.
The big glaring flaw that exists within this biopic is the over reliance on fantasy sequences. These type of scenes can be interesting if done right and as long as they don’t take up too much space in the overall film. Unfortunately, this script is chock full of them and after a while it just becomes tiresome. There are other ways of driving a point home. Also there are a few that go beyond tiresome and reach the point of ridiculous. The worst deals with a pregnant Marilyn and a talking fetus. If this scene was intended to be deep or intellectual, it failed miserably. It’s both silly and offensive at the same time. The offensive aspect comes into play when the talking fetus chastises Marilyn for her previous abortion. It’s hard to understand why exactly this was thought to be something that needed to be included. That is the film’s lowest point. Another low point is way in which her abortion is depicted. There’s one shot in particular that was simply unnecessary and gratuitous. And that shot is similar to several other scenes that are just too much. I’m not saying that dark things cannot be portrayed, but one must know how to depict something dark in a way that doesn’t come off as overly cruel.
Domink doesn’t seem to know when enough is enough and he also doesn’t seem to realize that a film like this needs at least some heart. There isn’t a whisper of warmth in this two and a half hour film. Just when you think you’re getting a little break from the unrelenting cruelty there’s an even more depressing wave of it. I wish there was more of a balance between showing the heart and warmth of Monroe and depicting the horrors she endured. Without that balance, it’s hard to connect.
By the end of this movie, I just felt tired and honestly kind of empty. It was just too much. A hybrid film of this and My Week with Marilyn probably would be the perfect Monroe biopic. You have to include the dark while remembering the light has a place as well.
Blonde is a film that boasts fine performances and high quality visuals. Unfortunately, the large number of increasingly ridiculous fantasy sequences and overbearing cruelty holds it back. With some script revisions and a little more balance, this could have been something much better.
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