BLONDE Review: Deconstructing Norma Jean into a tale of Decadence

One of the biggest icons of the XXth century, Marilyn Monroe, has finally got her long awaited biographical film. A film that its been surrounded by big controversy and has been despised by big part of Marilyn´s fandom.

This non-biopic, is an adaptation of a semi-biographical fictional novel of the same name written by Joyce Carol Oates, So the approach of the film is not by any means a celebration of the myth or legacy of Marilyn but a ruthless portrayal of Norma Jean’s decadence, centering the story in her lack of a father figure, and her eternal quest of filial love.

“Blonde” is a somber and deppresing journey that never gives an insight look of who Norma Jean really was, or how she became Marilyn Monroe. At any moment we get to know the woman or the myth, but we end up trapped in a tangled web of paranoia, decadence and self destruction, that shows Marilyn beyond the lights of stardom as a pitiful pathetic creature, enduring her miserable existence through a contemplative journey of disturbing images that leads to a tragic ending. I can’t see anyone becoming a Marilyn fan for approaching this film.

On the other hand , Ana de Armas is the big highlight of the movie, her characterization is really believable, and though I read somewhere someone criticizing her accent on the movie, she does an excellent job disguising her Cuban accent, mimicking Marilyn’s voice, delivering a fantastic performance.

I can’t understand the 14-minutes ovation that the film had recently on Venice film festival, because in my opinion, the movie is a giant pedantic demystification of an icon of twentieth century popular culture, extremely long, and hard to follow to those who are not familiar with the biography of the star, that besides Ana de Armas performance, lacks of any kind of memorability.

Available on Netflix