Blonde (Mini-Review)

Blonde is the second adaptation of the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. Both book and movie are fictionalized retellings of Marilyn Monroe's life. Norma Jeane Mortenson was raised by an abusive mother until an incident. Norma becomes an actress and finds navigating stardom overbearing. Through it all she finds comfort in her father's letters. Blonde was released on Netflix in 2022. It was directed by Andrew Dominik. It stars Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, and Bobby Cannavale.

I wouldn't usually be interested in a movie like Blonde, but the movie had the distinction of being the first NC-17 film on Netflix. So the question I wondered was whether or not it deserved the rating. While the movie does delve into dark and depressing territory, it never goes beyond what you'd get in an R rated film. Such as when Norma is raped near the end of the film, it's extremely disturbing but not visually graphic.

Something you need to be warned of before seeing the film is that it's arthouse. What does that mean? If you go see a movie in a theater it will follow a certain structure. Sure some movies subvert certain conventions, but there's always that tried and true structure at the center. Arthouse films don't care about structure and so go in some extremely odd directions. So if you don't like arthouse films, you should avoid this one as it won't change your mind.

As shown in the film, Norma's life was extremely tragic. The opening of the movie gives little hope. Norma's mother tries to drown her and soon after is institutionalized. This leaves the young girl orphaned. Then things somehow get much worse. In at least one instance she is raped in order to get a part. In the film the thing that pushes Norma over the edge to commit suicide is the revelation about who her father is. The only thing holding her together is torn away and she can't deal with the pain.

While the film is engaging, the two hour and forty-six minute runtime is grating at times. Shortly before Norma commits suicide, I didn't know if I could handle anymore. It did take three nights to finish the movie with the final night dealing with the largest chunk of the movie. Do I regret watching Blonde? No. Though I wish it had been slightly shorter.

Throughout the movie the aspect ratio and color change. Such as one moment it's black and white then in the next scene it's color. Or it'll be widescreen and then it won't. I don't know what deeper meaning it has and it feels like aesthetic for aesthetic's sake. At first I thought those changes were to indicate when something was real and when it wasn't. Near the beginning of the film Norma's mother remarks that Los Angeles makes it hard to tell what's actually real. So I took that as a clue.

I would recommend Blonde to fans of the book by Joyce Carol Oates. I would also recommend Blonde to fans of Marilyn Monroe. Finally, I would recommend Blonde to those looking for a good arthouse movie.