It’s no secret that I’ve been dying to see My Week with Marilyn, and even though the movie didn’t make it to the top three highest-earning spots for this past holiday weekend, it’s a hands-down, must-see for this awards season. The movie stars Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) in the role of Marilyn Monroe, which will no doubt change her entire career, especially since this is her first, solo top-billing role. Even though she shares the screen with a superb supporting cast, every time we see her entrancing pout as Monroe with perfectly coiffed platinum curls, you can’t take your eyes off of both the character of Monroe and Williams as an actress- one who has been preparing for a grippingly dramatic and demanding role as heavy as this. She is flawless in filling the stilettos of the sex symbol.
Having done my fair share of research about Monroe’s life and career, and having seen Williams grow up in front of the camera, starting with her work on Dawson’s Creek back in the 90s, Williams and Monroe are a match made in movie heaven. It’s not just the physical aspects that bring us back to the 50s and early 60s where Monroe dominated Hollywood with films like Some Like It Hot, Seven Year Itch, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but Williams’ remarkable ability to capture the subtle nuances of a lost orphan who is desperate for love and acceptance, vulnerable quivers of the lip each time she tries to stand up for herself, and faraway stares that the pressured performer inserts during dialogue are like watching the starlet thrive on set all over again.
In addition, as seen by the behind-the-scenes video below, Williams’ movements and voice are impeccably honoring the memory and comedic timing of the Monroe, who would have been 85 years old if she was still alive today. Surely Williams will pick up her third, and most deserving Oscar nomination for the part, and she’s already been awarded with Actress of the Year at this year’s Hollywood Film Festival.
However, there is more to the movie than just Williams’ performance as Monroe. The film also stars Kenneth Branagh (Pirate Radio) as stage legend Sir Laurence Olivier, last year’s Tony-winner, Eddie Redmayne (Hick) as Olivier’s third assistant, Colin Clark, Dame Judi Dench (J. Edgar) as Dame Sybil Thorndike, Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) as studio head Milton Greene, Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2) as Lucy, Colin’s short-term love interest, Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin) as Olivier’s then-wife, Gone with the Wind star, Vivien Leigh, Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II) as Monroe’s then-husband, playwright Arthur Miller, and Zoe Wanamaker as Paula Strasberg, Monroe’s motherly, method acting coach.
For those of you who don’t know, the movie is based on the real-life experiences of Colin Clark, who worked on the set of The Prince & The Showgirl in 1956 in England, Monroe’s first trip across the pond. Monroe starred as actress Elsie Marina, and Olivier played a Balkan prince, as well as director of the film. They both fall in love over the period of just a few days, and Monroe is faced with the challenge of understanding her character’s desires and motivation. Also, Sybil Thorndike was Olivier’s on-screen mother, and Dench’s performance as the respected actress was especially endearing opposite a nervous Monroe who was trying to please Olivier and his tyrannical method of directing, despite her troubles finding the strength to do so.
During the shoot, Colin becomes involved with the unstable Monroe and spends a very intimate week with the American siren who is constantly drugged, drunk, or in the stupors of melancholy over her troubled rise to stardom and dysfunctional upbringing, a stark contrast to the elitist and privileged household from which Colin has rebelliously emerged. Redmayne as Colin was the perfect choice because he embodies the young and naïve, yet ambitious coming-of-age man, who wants to break into the movie industry and falls in love with Monroe, despite everyone’s obvious warnings against it.
Branagh was equally well-cast as Olivier, who was struggling to find his role as a movie actor, especially in The Prince & The Showgirl, a romantic comedy that was supposed to help Olivier win the acceptance of the American public as a film star, as opposed to an acclaimed star of the English stage. At the time, Olivier had already won two Oscars for his Shakespearean forays in film, and Branagh’s experience and background in the acting world made him best suited to portray the screen legend. Someone had to play the bad guy in this movie, yet it was most pleasantly surprising to see Branagh’s Olivier confide in Vivien about how much he thinks Monroe lights up the screen. Here we see why Olivier demands such perfection in every last detail during the production of The Prince & The Showgirl, and we only want the same of Monroe.
I would’ve liked to have seen more of Scott as Arthur Miller, especially more intimately with Monroe. Not to give too much away, but there’s a scene before Miller returns to America to tend to his children from a previous marriage, where he discusses his marital troubles with the already frustrated Olivier. This opens up all the reasons why Monroe was continually damaged by the insensitivity of her husbands’ and overwhelmed by her own high-maintenance needs to be coddled and placated.
I’ve talked so much about the movie, perhaps giving more details away than I intended, but these are necessary background in understanding why the story unfolds as it so beautifully does. Simon Curtis, who is best known for his directorial efforts with BBC for the miniseries, Cranford, has made an admirable splash on the big screen with the adaptation of Colin Clark’s book The Prince, The Showgirl, & Me, with a script written by the accomplished Adrian Hodges, best known for British television work as well.
Marilyn Monroe was also known for her style which, in front of the camera, was very glamour / bombshell wearing lots of tight-fitting, sparkling gowns, as seen in the two entertaining musical numbers in the film. Here, costume designer Jill Taylor (Match Point, Scoop, Cassandra’s Dream) captured the all-American iconic looks that made the candid portraits of Monroe’s personal life in menswear-inspired ensembles, classic button-down shirts, and white headscarves with big sunglasses still popular and copied today. Watch out for this movie to appear on my list of Top 10 Most Stylish Films of 2011 at the end of this year!
There’s much more to the movie than just Monroe, but it’s worth it to see the famous blonde brilliantly brought back to life by Williams in the most pivotal and important performance of her career. Once the movie is over, you’re left with wanting so much more, since Monroe had another five years or so in the spotlight after The Prince & The Showgirl, before her death in 1962. After all, the title of the movie is My ‘Week’ with Marilyn.
This isn’t a movie about a shallow female movie star who died too young, it’s a special presentation of cinema just for the viewer who truly appreciates the culture of old Hollywood, a dramatic story of heartbreak and struggle, as well as fitting the bill for one of the best movies of the year!
My rating: 10/10.
For some more details about the movie, check out the behind-the-scenes video below found on YouTube! Also, give Alex’s review of the film a read, as well as my article on The Prince & The Showgirl!
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