Marilyn: drugged, insecure and lost
My Week with Marilyn is a biographical film about one of the most fascinating icons of our time. The film fascinates by focusing on merely a week, an interlude during the making of the 1957 film, The Prince and the Showgirl. Monroe was purportedly shown around Britain by Colin Clark, a third assistant on the film who briefly catches Monroe’s eye.
In a Roman Holiday-like setting, Monroe flees the pressures of her Hollywood life to escape with an infatuated Clark. But the outcome has nothing in common with the Hepburn-classic: this scenario will end in tears. At no time does Clark appear to be dealing with a ‘real’ person (though he ardently hopes the real Marilyn has revealed herself to him): Monroe is a confused, miserable character who appears to have lost the ability to connect with others on a genuine level.
It is to Michelle William’s credit — something recognised with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress — that we are able to see through Clark’s point of view in the film. An often drugged, insecure and lost Marilyn — her eyes eerily dead when not in character — makes it clear that there is no relationship. There is no moment of salvation or grace, no love affair to be remembered with affection. Most of the time, she is listless, bored and drugged. She doesn’t seem much like the Marilyn we visualise. But then, neither did Marilyn.
My Week with Marilyn is a biographical film about one of the most fascinating icons of our time. The film fascinates by focusing on merely a week, an interlude during the making of the 1957 film, The Prince and the Showgirl. Monroe was purportedly shown around Britain by Colin Clark, a third assistant on the film who briefly catches Monroe’s eye.
In a Roman Holiday-like setting, Monroe flees the pressures of her Hollywood life to escape with an infatuated Clark. But the outcome has nothing in common with the Hepburn-classic: this scenario will end in tears. At no time does Clark appear to be dealing with a ‘real’ person (though he ardently hopes the real Marilyn has revealed herself to him): Monroe is a confused, miserable character who appears to have lost the ability to connect with others on a genuine level.
It is to Michelle William’s credit — something recognised with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress — that we are able to see through Clark’s point of view in the film. An often drugged, insecure and lost Marilyn — her eyes eerily dead when not in character — makes it clear that there is no relationship. There is no moment of salvation or grace, no love affair to be remembered with affection. Most of the time, she is listless, bored and drugged. She doesn’t seem much like the Marilyn we visualise. But then, neither did Marilyn.
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