Tuesday 29 November 2011

A Few Thoughts On MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

"She was a star. Every time you saw her, she was something. Even when she was angry, it was just a remarkable person. A remarkable person, and in spades when she was on the screen."
-Billy Wilder

The Movie
I loved every second of this movie. It swept me away into its world and come the end, I didn't want it to stop.

Marylin died. She stopped dead. All we were left with was a tragic tale of one of the most beautiful people who ever lived. The film was like wish-fulfilment, it gave us time with her that we never thought we'd have again. Her life was so painful and she was so misunderstood, that its comforting to know that, in between all the madness, she had stolen moments of joy with people who cared about her.



I took a lot of myself into this movie. I guess that's why I enjoyed it more than many others who have reviewed it quite negatively. The film is about Colin Clark's first job in the movies, at Pinewood Studios, and I could relate. Your first time working at Pinewood is unforgettable. The big stages, the bland corridors, the movie stars. When you step into the studios you feel the history of cinema all around you. With 'My Week With Marilyn' we get to see it, too.



"She was just a continuous puzzle, without any solution"

-Billy Wilder


Michelle Williams

There aren't movie stars anymore. We have celebrities and gossip, but not everyone is grabbed. Monroe was something different. The saddest thing is that no-one quite knows what it was. It's impossible to put your finger on. Yet somehow, Michelle Williams was able to bring it alive again with her portrayal. I'm happy for the Academy to pack up the Oscar and post it to her now. She brought me closer to Marilyn Monroe than I ever expected to be. A truly phenomenal performance. 

Eddie Redmayne 
I don't even know this guy. He was good. But this film was all about Marilyn.


Judi Dench

She's a class act. 

Kenneth Branagh
I've never really been a fan, but he was perfect. Managed to be quietly and almost accidentally hilarious all the way through. We could feel his frustration. 


Emma Watson 
When the film finished, I talked to my friend Anna about Watson. I said that I think her career has peaked. Where can she go after Potter? What does she have left to say as an artist? You look at Michelle Williams and you could see she had something extra way back in the 'Dawson's Creek' days. Emma Watson is a decent actress and she's pretty, but do we care? Can she take us on a journey that doesn't involve wizards? I'm not sure.


Adrian Hodges (Writer) - Simon Curtis (Director)

They nailed it. Not only was the film about the magic of old movies, it felt like an old movie. Classic storytelling. The humor was small yet well played, the acting was spot on, the dialogue believable. It all added up to a very satisfying experience where we got transported back into the days of Marilyn Monroe. 

Cineworld Haymarket, London
We were in screen 1. There were only a handful of people. It's perfect. This cinema has history. It added to the experience. Everyone there loved the movie. How do I know? I just know. You can tell by the silence, by the laughs, by how people talk when the movie is over. 

"She was very tough to work with.  But what you had, by hook or crook, once you saw it on the screen, it was just amazing. Amazing, the radiation that came out. And she was, believe it or not, an excellent dialogue actress. She knew where the laugh was. She knew. But then again, we would have three hundred extras, Miss Monroe is called for nine o'clock, and she would appear at five in the afternoon. And she would stand there and say, 'I'm sorry, but I lost my way to the studio.' She had been under contract there for seven years!'
-Billy Wilder (Directed Marilyn in 'The Seven Year Itch' & 'Some Like It Hot')

Care to share?

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review, I was wondering about this one. I'm a huge Marilyn Monroe fan, and I was curious to hear whether Michelle Williams could pull it off or not.

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  2. I really want to see this. I must go this week.

    As for Emma Watson, I'm not sure. I didn't think she was an especially good actress in the HP films, though she did get better as it went on. I haven't seen her in anything else so am curious to watch her here. I don't feel the same about Michelle Williams though. Back in the DC days, for me, she was just a so-so pretty blonde, and I never expected much of her. And now I think she's phenomenal and one of the best actresses around. I'll watch her in pretty much anything. So I guess you never know.

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  3. I am hoping to see this film on an afternoon this weekend. I was unsure whether I should wait to read your review till after I'd seen it but I'm so pleased I didn't as now I can't wait and some of my fears have been allayed.

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  4. I saw it this evening Kid and it is absolutely incredible. It's one of those films where the minute the credits are finished and I'm heading to the exit I'm thinking about when I can see it again. So utterly magical.

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  5. Kid, I finally got around to seeing this and I wasn't let down. Williams is extraordinary. I was captivated from her first song in the prologue to her last over the credits. She became the character and I really felt for her. Williams is some talent.
    I couldn't agree more with your other observations too. The class (Dench and Branagh, Julia Ormond even) performed while the underclass (Redmayne and Watson) were outshone or irrelevant to proceedings.

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