Screen icon and tragic heroine Marilyn Monroe remains as fascinating now as she was in her lifetime. Here, Michelle Williams attempts to get under her skin...
Has there ever been a screen icon quite like Marilyn Monroe? Sure, today
we have the likes of Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson, but the sheer amount of beautiful actresses competing for one role rules out the special nature of Monroe's career. Several actresses were at one point vying for the iconic role for Simon Curtis's My Week With Marilyn, but the part went to Michelle Williams, a decidedly un-showy actress who's made her name portraying tragic and complicated women, much like Marilyn herself. Some people were dubious, others rejoiced at the potential for Williams to get under her skin, and both had their reasons.
Since the success of last year's King's Speech, British-made biopics of elusive public figures have been all the rage. My Week... definitely lives in the shadow of what remains a superior film, but it's also a very different animal. Rather than exploring the contradictions of royal duty and humanising previously unknown personalities, this new film deals with the pressures of celebrity, and largely confirms various assumptions we already held about idols like Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond) and Monroe herself.
By the very nature of the world they are dealing with, and the fact that the film is an adaptation of Colin Clark's (Eddie Redmayne) account, the audience is already well aware of the side of Marilyn we're watching. There's nothing new to be added and, if anything, the viewer finds themselves constantly aware of the unreliable nature of a narrator like Clark. Managing to find his way onto the set of Olivier's The Prince and the Showgirl through persistence and familial connections, Clark starts an unlikely friendship with Monroe, and becomes her confidant and companion as she spectacularly unravels.
Redmayne, who can next be seen in the upcoming Les Miserables, holds the film together as it threatens to collapse under the weight of his surrounding performers. It helps, of course, that we have no preconceived ideas of Clark, unlike Branagh's Olivier or Williams' Monroe. For parts of the film, scenes play out like an elaborate costume party in which established actors of today have fun impersonating their heroes of the past. Whilst always bringing their portrayals back to a believable sense of reality when necessary, less serious moments are handled with a touch of playfulness that's not entirely appropriate.
It's a good job, then, that the most important of these roles is handled by capable actors who could hold their own in any room. While Williams has never been a Hollywood starlet in the same way as those mentioned above, she does a fabulous job getting to the core of Monroe's sadness and despair, and the comment on destructive celebrity culture is a particularly poignant one in our times. While we may have gotten past the tabloid tales of Britney Spears, the presence of stars like Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse do linger at times. The overriding message - things were the same back then.
But the performance, and in turn, the film, really lights up when Williams adopts the star's public persona. At one point, whilst on a unauthorised day trip to Windsor castle, Monroe asks Clark "shall I be her?" before poses provocatively against the wall and wiggling in that oh so Marilyn way. It could be the most poignant part of the film, but it also one of the most light-hearted. We're used to Williams being sad, but here she proves her salt in other ways, too. The only downside to this powerhouse performance is that the supporting cast, featuring the likes of Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson, and Judie Dench, are simply window dressing, and aren't given much room to impress.
My Week With Marilyn is essentially the tale of a young lad in awe of a screen goddess and the many contradictions she inhabits. Despite strong performances from Williams, Redmayne and Branagh however, the film never reveals anything new behind the icon, and it is that on which the movie's success relies. There are glimpses at the woman behind the red lipstick and blonde hair, but these are yanked away pretty quickly in favour of a more superficial exploration of a woman who fascinates as much now as she did back then.
we have the likes of Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson, but the sheer amount of beautiful actresses competing for one role rules out the special nature of Monroe's career. Several actresses were at one point vying for the iconic role for Simon Curtis's My Week With Marilyn, but the part went to Michelle Williams, a decidedly un-showy actress who's made her name portraying tragic and complicated women, much like Marilyn herself. Some people were dubious, others rejoiced at the potential for Williams to get under her skin, and both had their reasons.
Since the success of last year's King's Speech, British-made biopics of elusive public figures have been all the rage. My Week... definitely lives in the shadow of what remains a superior film, but it's also a very different animal. Rather than exploring the contradictions of royal duty and humanising previously unknown personalities, this new film deals with the pressures of celebrity, and largely confirms various assumptions we already held about idols like Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond) and Monroe herself.
By the very nature of the world they are dealing with, and the fact that the film is an adaptation of Colin Clark's (Eddie Redmayne) account, the audience is already well aware of the side of Marilyn we're watching. There's nothing new to be added and, if anything, the viewer finds themselves constantly aware of the unreliable nature of a narrator like Clark. Managing to find his way onto the set of Olivier's The Prince and the Showgirl through persistence and familial connections, Clark starts an unlikely friendship with Monroe, and becomes her confidant and companion as she spectacularly unravels.
Redmayne, who can next be seen in the upcoming Les Miserables, holds the film together as it threatens to collapse under the weight of his surrounding performers. It helps, of course, that we have no preconceived ideas of Clark, unlike Branagh's Olivier or Williams' Monroe. For parts of the film, scenes play out like an elaborate costume party in which established actors of today have fun impersonating their heroes of the past. Whilst always bringing their portrayals back to a believable sense of reality when necessary, less serious moments are handled with a touch of playfulness that's not entirely appropriate.
It's a good job, then, that the most important of these roles is handled by capable actors who could hold their own in any room. While Williams has never been a Hollywood starlet in the same way as those mentioned above, she does a fabulous job getting to the core of Monroe's sadness and despair, and the comment on destructive celebrity culture is a particularly poignant one in our times. While we may have gotten past the tabloid tales of Britney Spears, the presence of stars like Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse do linger at times. The overriding message - things were the same back then.
But the performance, and in turn, the film, really lights up when Williams adopts the star's public persona. At one point, whilst on a unauthorised day trip to Windsor castle, Monroe asks Clark "shall I be her?" before poses provocatively against the wall and wiggling in that oh so Marilyn way. It could be the most poignant part of the film, but it also one of the most light-hearted. We're used to Williams being sad, but here she proves her salt in other ways, too. The only downside to this powerhouse performance is that the supporting cast, featuring the likes of Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson, and Judie Dench, are simply window dressing, and aren't given much room to impress.
My Week With Marilyn is essentially the tale of a young lad in awe of a screen goddess and the many contradictions she inhabits. Despite strong performances from Williams, Redmayne and Branagh however, the film never reveals anything new behind the icon, and it is that on which the movie's success relies. There are glimpses at the woman behind the red lipstick and blonde hair, but these are yanked away pretty quickly in favour of a more superficial exploration of a woman who fascinates as much now as she did back then.
