Blondeis a controversial film, to say the least. Ever since it was announced, it’s attracted skepticism and criticism for a variety of factors, from its casting, to its nearly three-hour length, to its controversial content, to the fact it’s a film directed and written by a man, to its uncompromising nature, to whether it should have even made in the first place, and for its NC-17 rating (the first film released to streamingon Netflix to be given such a rating).
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There may be bold choices made inBlondethat don’t pay off perfectly, and there’s a debate to be had about the ethics of depicting a fictionalized account of a real-life person likeMarilyn Monroe. But for any misstep thatBlondemakes, there are several things it does right. It’s a bold and uncompromising film, and feels like a truly singular and unfiltered work of art by filmmakerAndrew Dominik. In defense of a film that’s getting more negative reactions than positive since its release on Netflix, here are 10 things that makeBlondea great (and even misunderstood) movie.
The following list contains spoilers for Blonde (2022)
Ana de Armas' performance
Truth be told, for all the drama and discourse aroundBlonde, the one thing most people seem to agree on is thatAna de Armasis fantastic as Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe. She’s someone who’s been on the rise for several years now, stealing scenes with supporting performances in films likeBlade Runner 2049andNo Time To Die, and proving herself to be capable of leading a film likeKnives Out.
ButBlondefeels like the first big movie that truly belongs to her, and as a result, she shines here in a way she hasn’t quite shone before. She perfectly captures the sorrow, anger, fear, and brief bursts of joy Monroe experiences throughout the film, taking an almost mythical figure and making her feel human and heartbreakingly sympathetic. It’s a challenging role, but de Armas rose to that challenge and then some.
Dazzling visuals
It’s hard to callBlondeanything but visually dazzling. There may be sights depicted on the screen that aren’t easy to look at, but the film itself is shot beautifully. There are scenes in black and white and in color, with both looking equally striking. The camerawork is varied and unpredictable, and the editing ties unique images together in ways that both are thematically logical and emotionally impactful.
Dominik has always known how to direct some great-looking movies (he didThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, after all), so this area ofBlondebeing well-executed isn’t too surprising. CinematographerChayse Irvinalso needs to be credited for the film’s unique look, as well as the wayBlondeso perfectly transports viewers to Hollywood in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
The music by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Nick CaveandWarren Ellisare members of the bandNick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and have collaborated as a duo on multiple film scores, including past Andrew Dominik films. Additionally, Andrew Dominik has also directed two music documentaries about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:One More Time With Feeling, and therecentThis Much I Know To Be True.
The three clearly have a strong artistic bond, and so it made sense for Cave and Ellis to compose the unique score forBlonde. Their sparse, eerie pieces of music are perfect accompaniments toBlonde’sstory and visuals, with an instrumental from their 2019 song, “Bright Horses,” proving particularly moving during one of the film’s rare (semi) hopeful moments.
Disorientating style and presentation
For as visually bold and striking asBlondecan look, it’s not always easy to look at. Over its 166-minute runtime, it uses a huge, often overwhelming number of techniques - like the aforementioned switching between black and white and color, the use of multiple aspect ratios, jarring edits, and slow motion - to disorientate and surprise the viewer.
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Some may say it’s messy, or trying too hard, but for as wild as the visuals and style can get, there is a clear reason for it. Monroe’s life is shown to be unpredictable and relentless, as she’s thrown around from person to person and project to project. If the audience can’t always keep up, perhaps it’s done so we can better understand Monroe’s struggles and state of mind, too.
Exposing abuse, past and present
Some truly awful things are shown to happen to Marilyn Monroe throughoutBlonde’sruntime. She is abused in more ways than one (and by multiple people), is seen by most as nothing more than an attractive woman to look at, and is subjected to so much trauma that she eventually turns to substance abuse to cope.
The film has garnered controversy for showing things that may not have actually happened (such as the already notorious scene withJohn F. Kennedy). But the film uses Monroe to expose things that did happen to many young women in the film industry during the so-called “Golden Age of Hollywood.” If the #MeToo Movement is anything to go by, these things didn’t stop in the 1960s, either. As difficult as these scenes are to watch, they shed light on the dark side of Hollywood some may sometimes like to pretend doesn’t exist. Movies may bring joy to those who watch them, but they didn’t (and don’t) always do the same for those involved in making them.
Transcends the standard biopic
It might not even be accurate to callBlondea biopic, contrary to what you may have heard. It’s a heavily fictionalized take on Monroe’s tragically short life, and is best approached as something that’s inspired by real-life, rather than truly depicting it.
Still,given how stale the average biopic can be, perhaps this approach isn’t such a bad thing.Blondedoesn’t want to give you something you’ve seen before. It wants to surprise and shock, and is even more effective at doing just that by lulling viewers into a false sense of security, given the formulaic nature of most biopics.
Challenges the viewer
Because of the aforementioned distressing content, runtime, eclectic style, and refusal to conform to the structure of a standard biographical film,Blondeemerges as a difficult watch. This is something it should be celebrated for, instead of condemned.
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There is a time and place for easy-going, fun movies. It’s even okay for most movies to aim to entertain their viewers, first and foremost. Yet that was never what Dominik intendedBlondeto be, so the discomfort and horror a viewer may feel are very intentional. Making viewers feel that way, in this case, is not a creative oversight.
Its brutal honesty
Dominik laid bare the mythological figure ofJesse James in his 2007 film,The Assassination of Jesse James. It deconstructed the Old West, and the Western genre as a whole, crafting something gritty, downbeat, and painfully honest.
Blondedoes something similar, though perhaps becomes an even more hard-hitting watch because of the way it also gets the viewer to sympathize with Monroe. It refuses to pull punches when depicting the abuse she suffered and her own personal demons, becoming a distressing, psychologically tense, and nakedly honest film as a result.
It’s unafraid to call out its audience
Part of the reasonBlondemay be so alienating to viewers is the way it aims to criticize those who watch it. There’s more than one scene that shows an audience watching a film within the film, and it’s done in a particularly impactful way during the aforementioned JFK scene.
Perhaps Dominik is being more critical of audiences at the time, who only wanted to see a fantasy, always happy and bubbly version of Marilyn Monroe. He may be calling out viewers in 2022 similarly, or at least doing so to help us understand why those in the 50s and 60s looked at Monroe the way they did (and why they failed to notice or acknowledge her personal struggles).
Its surreal, haunting ending
Blondeseems to collapse in on itself during its final scenes. The film depicts Monroe at her lowest and most isolated, falling in and out of various hallucinatory nightmares before she tragically overdoses on barbiturates at just 36… at which point, the film ends, just as suddenly as her life did.
It’s a troubling and perhaps even anticlimactic ending, but it leaves an impact. It saves many of its boldest and most haunting images for those final scenes, ensuring that the film’s conclusion is hard to shake, regardless of whether or not you want to remember the film’s horror, rage, and deep sadness.
