- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ |
Deeply divisive Monroe biopic 'Blonde' hits Netflix
Destined to be one of the most divisive films of the year, Marilyn Monroe biopic "Blonde" finally lands on Netflix on Wednesday after more than a decade of troubled production.
While there is almost universal praise for the visceral lead performance by Ana de Armas, critics cannot agree whether the uncompromising, nearly three-hour film is an artistic tour de force or another cruel layer of exploitation perpetrated against the 20th century icon.
For ID magazine, "Blonde" is "guttural, instinctive, anguished filmmaking that bends space, time, and every cinematic tool at its disposal in service of attaining emotional truth".
Or viewers might take the position of the New Yorker's Richard Brody, who called it "ridiculously vulgar", seeing the endless torment that Monroe experiences on-screen as "a special kind of directorial sadism".
There are certainly no punches being pulled by Australian director Andrew Dominik in his adaptation of the hit semi-fictional book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates.
From the trauma of a mentally unstable and violent mother, through her rape at the hands of a studio boss, to a particularly sordid scene with president John F Kennedy, Monroe's life is depicted as one of relentless abuse and anguish.
Dominik spent 11 years trying to get the film made, and has credited the #MeToo movement against sexual assault with finally generating interest in the story -- though he reportedly fought long and hard with Netflix over long running time and graphic scenes.
Armas told reporters at the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered this month, that she had to go to "uncomfortable, dark and vulnerable" places for the role.
"She was all I thought about, all I dreamed about, all I could talk about. She was with me, and it was beautiful," she said.
The crew filmed in the real locations where Monroe was born and died, with Dominik saying the shoot "took on elements of a seance".
- 'Sense of awe' -
It is a star-making turn for Armas, who worked for months with a vocal coach to overcome her Cuban accent and find a voice that could express Monroe's character as well as her own unique intonations.
"On the first day of filming, I went home with this sense of awe that I had the privilege of actually working with Marilyn Monroe," co-star Adrien Brody, who plays husband Arthur Miller, said in Venice.
Dominik's films have often proved divisive.
Many saw his previous biopic, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" starring Brad Pitt, who serves as a producer on "Blonde", as a poetic masterpiece, but just as many found it dull and pretentious, and it flopped at the box office.
Dominik is unlikely to be bothered, however.
"Blonde" is "a demanding movie," he told Screen Daily. "If the audience doesn't like it, that's the f---ing audience's problem. It's not running for public office."
NPR were among several outlets saying the film is "an exercise in exploitation, not empathy".
But Vogue said a lot of the initial shock may fade over time.
"History will be kind to 'Blonde', a Hollywood biopic in real anarchy mode... (which) in time, could be considered a masterpiece."
G.Stevens--AMWN