My Week With Marilyn

http://myweekwithmarilynmovie.com/

I'm sure what I'm about to say will be a shock to a lot of my regular readers and to a lot of my friends too. I have never seen a Marilyn Monroe film. I don't consider myself a fan of hers and in truth I've never been that intrigued or beguiled by her as most people are. I am however, intrigued by the way she died. As a lot of people are. I think there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

I also think she was beautiful, a shining star of her era, and I think her death was a tragedy because she never got to reach her full potential. That's why, despite my lack of enthusiasm towards Marilyn herself, I wanted to see this adaptation of a supposedly true story. A window into the life of one of the most iconic women in the world.

The film is set during the time that Ms Monroe (Michelle Williams) spent in England filming 'The Prince and the Showgirl' with Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). The third assistant director on 'The Prince and the Showgirl' was Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), who had been hired as a favour to a relative who worked for the studio making the film. During his time on set Colin gets to know Marilyn and becomes one of the few people she trusts and she relies on him as a confidante. They become ever closer when Marilyn's husband, playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), leaves the UK to go back to his children in the US, leaving Marilyn in a strange country and feeling alienated from the cast and crew who she's convinced all hate her.

I saw this movie with my best friend who is a lifelong Marilyn fan. And what a difference this made, it gave me an insight into the 'true story' this film is based on that I wouldn't have otherwise had. I was reliably informed that a lot of 'borrowing' went on in this film, something which has been backed up by articles I've read since seeing it. Things we know happened have been interwoven into the screenplay to make everything else all the more convincing.

Colin Clark's memoirs after all can't really be contested, as the one person who could confirm or deny their contents wasn't here when the books were published. And although the film doesn't quite confirm an affair between the two it is certainly implied that they were very close. And no matter how lonely Marilyn felt, I find it hard to believe she would have been so open and 'friendly' with a guy like Colin.

I digress however as this is a review of the film and not my opinion on a book I've never read. Though it's hard to review one without mentioning the other. One of the main reasons I wanted to see this (as I'm not a Marilyn fan) was Michelle Williams. As mentioned in my Blue Valentine review, I have been a fan of Miss Williams for a number of years now. And while she is good in the title role, she's not at her best. I would definitely say "don't believe the hype" in this case, that way you might be pleasantly surprised rather than mildly disappointed with her performance. You can tell that she's put a lot of research into her character, and it pays off to some extent, but she just doesn't quite pull off Marilyn. 

But then I defy you to find someone who could. This is the problem with making films about film stars of old. They had old school Hollywood glamour on their side, they were icons of the silver screen. How does one imitate that? Clearly the answer is that they don't as Michelle, try as she might, just can't capture that star quality that Marilyn seemed to ooze from every inch of her. I mentioned above that I've never seen a Marilyn Monroe film. This is true. I have however seen bits of Marilyn Monroe films. And seen enough images and interviews etc to believe I know what I'm talking about when I say she oozed star quality. There's a reason she's the icon she is, no-one has come close to matching her je ne sais quoi. Whatever it was that she had that made her so appealing, no other movie star has ever captured it. And I don't think they ever will. 

That said, Michelle Williams does a good job of an impossible task and you don't come away annoyed or angered by her performance. And I think that's the most you can hope for. Branagh and Dench on the other hand are both fabulous in their respective roles of Sir Olivier and Dame Thorndike. Dench doesn't have an awful lot to do but you relish every time she's on screen and she fills her character with such likability that I can only hope Sybil was as nice in real life. And from the little I've seen of Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl I think Branagh's portrayal of him is spot on. Unfortunately for Branagh I imagine he'll be largely overlooked as all the talk will be about Williams. Finally, Redmayne, although still a little too weird looking for my tastes, is fittingly bland in his role of Colin. That's not to say he's not good, it's just that his is the least showy of all the lead roles and he plays this to perfection. Support is ably supplied by Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson and Zoe Wanamaker amongst others.

Overall, an interesting, if a little indulgent film but one which I imagine is more fiction than fact. 7 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 28th November 2011

UK Release Date - 25th November 2011

Cast Overview:

Michelle Williams ~ Marilyn Monroe

Eddie Redmayne ~ Colin Clark

Kenneth Branagh ~ Sir Laurence Olivier

Judi Dench ~ Dame Sybil Thorndike

Emma Watson ~ Lucy

Julia Ormond ~ Vivien Leigh

Dominic Cooper ~ Milton Greene

Dougray Scott ~ Arthur Miller

Zoe Wanamaker ~ Paula Strasberg

Derek Jacobi ~ Sir Owen Morshead

Geraldine Somerville ~ Lady Jane Clark

Michael Kitchen ~ Hugh Perceval

Toby Jones ~ Arthur Jacobs

Jim Carter ~ Barry

Director ~ Simon Curtis

Writer(s) ~ Adrian Hodges (Screenplay) and Colin Clark (based on his books 'My Week With Marilyn' and 'The Prince, the Showgirl and Me')

Blue Valentine

http://www.bluevalentinemovie.com/

As mentioned previously, I am a big fan of The Notebook. In developing a love of that film I also developed a fondness for it's stars Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. And as such I tend to look forward to their up-coming projects. Blue Valentine is no exception to that rule. 


Blue Valentine had the added bonus of also starring Michelle Williams, who I've been a fan of since her Dawson's Creek days. I was eagerly anticipating the film's release when I read a fascinating interview with Ms Williams in Empire Magazine (http://tinyurl.com/6hq9toh). In the interview Williams talks about how committed she'd been to telling this story, ever since she first read the script when she was in her early 20s*. The interview also sheds light on the director's methods of enabling his actors to get to know each other well enough to hate each other. Williams explains how she and Gosling prepared for their roles by living together for a month, in between filming, in order to find out what would annoy them about each other if they were a real couple. For example, what would make them argue etc.


By the time the film's release date came around, it was obvious that none of the cinemas in my town (or surrounding area) were going to be showing it. I find it's always the way with the ones you REALLY want to see! Thankfully I have an amazing best friend who not only wanted to see the film, but also didn't mind taking time out of her Valentines Day plans to go to London, and see the film with me at the delightful Prince Charles Cinema.


The film flips between present day bitterness and the bittersweet early days of Cindy and Dean. They met by chance when he was working for a removal firm, moving an elderly man into a home. She happened to be visiting her grandmother at the same home on the same day. As Cindy had a boyfriend, she turned down Dean's offer of a date. They meet again a month later when Cindy has become disillusioned with said boyfriend and decides to give Dean a chance. In between these flashes of the past we also see Dean and Cindy as they are now, embittered and worn down by life, family, jobs and each other. The film continues to switch between Cindy and Dean then, getting to know each other and falling in love, to now, knowing too much about the other person and falling out of love. 


While I concede that this is not the cheeriest of films, I thought it did accurately portray the way that people drift apart and how sometimes, love just isn't enough. The interwoven flashback scenes of how Dean and Cindy met and fell in love are so believable. So much so that I felt a little uncomfortable watching the more intimate scenes, as though I were peeking into a real couple's private life through a keyhole. This only speaks of how good Williams and Gosling are, and how much they put themselves into these characters. Their director clearly had method to his madness in having them live together during filming, as I'm sure it was this prolonged time together that made their performances so grounded in reality. 


I can't go so far as to say that the film was enjoyable, as watching two people fight for their love rarely is. But I will say that it was a fascinating insight into the lives of a realistic and thoughtfully portrayed (dis)functional couple. 8 out of 10.

*For the purpose of grasping how long writer/director Derek Cianfrance has been trying to get Blue Valentine made and released, Michelle Williams is now 30.

Viewing Date - 14th February 2011

UK Release Date - 14th January 2011

Cast Overview:

Ryan Gosling ~ Dean

Michelle Williams ~ Cindy

Faith Wladyka ~ Frankie

John Doman ~ Jerry

Mike Vogel ~ Bobby

Director/Writer ~ Derek Cianfrance

Writer ~ Cami Delavigne

Writer ~ Joey Curtis