My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Directed by: Simon Curtis | 99 minutes | drama, biography | Actors: Michelle Williams, Emma Watson, Dominic Cooper, Julia Ormond, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Toby Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Dougray Scott, Derek Jacobi, Geraldine Somerville, Zoë Wanamaker, Miranda Raison, Simon Russell Beale, Philip Jackson

Director Simon Curtis has taken the time for his feature film debut. After about twenty years of TV movies and series, he wanted to choose a special project for his step to the silver screen, and with ‘My Week with Marilyn’ he succeeded. The love for his subject radiates from the screen and he knows how to propel his strong cast to great heights. Michelle Williams, in particular, does a great job in the title role. She not only succeeds in accurately portraying the icon Marilyn, with all her unique traits and mannerisms, but also knows how to convincingly shape the person behind the world star, Norma Jean, the fragile, insecure, but also full of life woman who needs to genuine attention and love. The film is an interesting look behind the scenes of a well-known film production – where the confrontations between British acting giant Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Hollywood star Monroe provide amusing and sometimes painful moments. But the most important and salient aspect of the film is of course the intimate week – dramatic and tragic, but also effervescent and erotically charged – that director’s assistant Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) was allowed to spend with this irresistible world star. And although the film only briefly opens the curtains, what can be seen behind the windows is more than enough to dream away with Clark in this improbable, true (if we are to believe Clark) fairy tale and really feel the time. with the real Marilyn.

The atmosphere drawing of time and place and the depiction of the ins and outs within a film production have been very successful. Props like an old-fashioned open car in which Colin arrives – beautifully filmed from above and later in close-up to show the wooden finish of the dashboard – or a photogenic location like Windsor Castle give the production that little bit extra. It makes immersing yourself in this perfect looking world very easy. However, when Marilyn’s very human drama comes to the fore in this world, it is immediately extra confrontational. When she can’t get a simple sentence out of her mouth again and again, it’s certainly amusing at first, but at some point you do have to feel for Marilyn, especially when she returns all the failed takes at the end of the day. must see, and burst into tears. Clark rightly notes that Olivier should only show her the successful takes, which is better for her self-confidence. Because when she finally gets it right, she sparkles and dominates the screen like no other. Even Olivier himself has to admit that.

But Marilyn herself sees nothing but contempt and disapproval in Olivier’s usually constipated facial expressions. Even when they applaud her or compliment her, she doesn’t feel genuinely valued. She has virtually no one “on her side”, except her acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoë Wanamaker), who assists her with her method acting (!), and an endearing Dame Sybil Thorndike, played with verve by Judi Dench, who immediately on the first day when he snaps at Monroe. It’s one of the main reasons Clark can get so close to her and she’s willing to share joys and sorrows, mind and body with him.

Almost the entire cast is strong but the whole movie revolves around the sun who is called Michelle Williams. She manages to find an almost perfect balance between the star and the human being. In iconic moments like her arrival to London by plane, during press releases, or in her recreations on the film set, she gets close to the Marilyn we all know, with her giggles, photogenic poses, teasing with journalists, or sometimes (deliberately ?) stupid comments. But as the private Marilyn, she’s also believable (as far as we can tell) and, during her frivolous moments, she’s careful not to giggle and skip too much so that she doesn’t become a caricature. Of course, the real Marilyn is inimitable and her energy and eccentricities are impossible to imitate perfectly, but Williams comes a long way. It really becomes magical when she flips the switch from one moment to the next and changes from the normal “girl next door” into a posing Marilyn Monroe, flirting with the audience. After visiting a Windsor Castle with Colin and being met at the exit by a group of astonished attendees, she briefly asks “Shall I be her?” to Colin – almost to please him – and then enchants all onlookers with her smiles, pursed lips, and smoothly curving body, only to quietly walk away from Colin’s arm after a few “kodak moments”. “Who is that boy anyway?”

Sometimes it is not clear where the star begins and man ends. For example, she also seems to really enjoy teasing Eton’s college boys when they run towards her in the schoolyard. It’s not all just an act. So when she says she’s happy as that big world star, maybe it’s partly true. However, we often see her also unhappy, drowsy and under the influence of pills and alcohol because she has had enough of the unsympathetic people around her who all want something from her. On a plot level, while the film shows only fleeting moments in Marilyn’s life, the depth and pathos are communicated by Michelle Williams herself. Her inner struggle and sadness is palpable. She has a desire to be respected as an actress, but also to just live a simple life and be a good wife and mother. She does enjoy her stardom at times but deep down in her heart she would probably like to say goodbye to it all. She realizes all too well that she’s trapped, which is beautifully communicated in a scene in the backseat of her car after a thrilling swimming scene with Colin in a local lake, when she looks sadly out the window and he wants to take her hand. She slides her hand away, after which an outside shot shows her tearful face behind the window. She cannot give in to this fledgling love. She has obligations: to her husband, to her audience, to the film producers. If she is lucky, she can create some moments for herself and feel free for a while. In this respect, the film sometimes feels like ‘Roman Holiday’, in which a happy incident allowed Princess Audrey Hepburn to feel like a “normal” woman for a few days, with the help of charmer Gregory Peck. Unfortunately for Marilyn it ended a lot less fairytale. Colin Clark, in turn, saw his dream come true in that particular week and has been able to live on this for a lifetime. By his own admission, when Marilyn happened to him, all he had to do was keep his eyes open. It is recommended to do the same when watching this dream movie.