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Marlowe

By Marlowe,
in Film, TV & Radio

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glb

glb

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, ChristopherBloodAxe said:

I loved it. Left me wondering how much of it is true, especially the stuff with Chaplin Jr. But I think it's essentially a true story. Horrific in places and beautifully shot.

 

The author of the book it's based on calls her own story a work of fiction. The film also takes liberties with timelines and the hearsay around Monroe's life, of which so much has devolved into gutter press gossip that it would be nigh-on impossible to give a true account of her.

 

*should add I'm actually intrigued by the film from the view of how it deals with celebrity as a horror theme.

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PK

PK

Posted
Posted

What do you find creepy about him? I've not seen the film yet but I thought he gave a reasonably good account in that interview of what he was trying to achieve with the film - bringing to screen what he saw in his head when he read a specific book and looked at specific photographs.

 

I get the sense that a few critics and people online (not you specifically @Festoon) seem to think that he was making a historical account of her life, and as such feel that by leaving out some positive elements of her character he's doing her a disservice. But it doesn't sound like a biography is what he set out to make at all.

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, PK said:

What do you find creepy about him? I've not seen the film yet but I thought he gave a reasonably good account in that interview of what he was trying to achieve with the film - bringing to screen what he saw in his head when he read a specific book and looked at specific photographs.

 

I get the sense that a few critics and people online (not you specifically @Festoon) seem to think that he was making a historical account of her life, and as such feel that by leaving out some positive elements of her character he's doing her a disservice. But it doesn't sound like a biography is what he set out to make at all.

 

It sounds to me, from that interview, like he actively dislikes her. And, for me, there's little point in making a film about a real person if it hasn't a biographical element - particularly have to strip out any positive aspect of their existence to suit your narrative.

 

Also, too many cheerful references to 'whores' for my liking.

 

To me, another bloke exploiting a famous woman who he seems to have no empathy for.

 

More generally, I'm suspicious of blokes making films about famous women which focus mostly on the abuse, suffering and exploitation of those women. Inevitably, those films become part of that exploitation, and I suspect creepy motivations to some degree. 

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PK

PK

Posted
Posted

That is a fair suspicion. I suppose I just don't think it applies to Dominik; I don't get the sense he's exploiting her or actively dislikes her - in fact it doesn't even sound to me like he's making a film about Marilyn Monroe the person, he explicitly says that here: 

 

Quote

I see the film, in some ways, as Joyce’s vision of Marilyn, which is also really Joyce. So I think the film is about the meaning of Marilyn Monroe. Or a meaning. She was symbolic of something. She was the Aphrodite of the 20th century, the American goddess of love. And she killed herself. So what does that mean?

 

Spoiler

 

 

It sounds like he's made a film about the image of Monroe rather Monroe herself - pretty literally at some points, with the extent to which he's made efforts to recreate the photographs of her. I'm not sure I agree that there's no point making a film about a historical figure without a biographical element; you can examine the cultural significance of a person (or even just their image) without necessarily needing to tie it down to the literal events of their life or temper it with empathy for them. I think that's a perfectly valid artistic approach - whether that it's an exploitative act is a really interesting point though. I suppose it's certainly not exactly a positive act, and you do have to question the motivations of that type of action.

 

It's difficult because I feel like I'm writing an eye-rolling 'actually, no, this man in Hollywood is not a misogynist' post. I just don't get the sense that he hates Monroe, or women, he's just not interested in telling the story of her life in this particular film.

 

I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to seeing it, because it sounds like it's going to be pretty bleak, but I do very much want to watch it to see how it compares to what he's said in that interview

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, PK said:

That is a fair suspicion. I suppose I just don't think it applies to Dominik; I don't get the sense he's exploiting her or actively dislikes her - in fact it doesn't even sound to me like he's making a film about Marilyn Monroe the person, he explicitly says that here: 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

It sounds like he's made a film about the image of Monroe rather Monroe herself - pretty literally at some points, with the extent to which he's made efforts to recreate the photographs of her. I'm not sure I agree that there's no point making a film about a historical figure without a biographical element; you can examine the cultural significance of a person (or even just their image) without necessarily needing to tie it down to the literal events of their life or temper it with empathy for them. I think that's a perfectly valid artistic approach - whether that it's an exploitative act is a really interesting point though. I suppose it's certainly not exactly a positive act, and you do have to question the motivations of that type of action.

 

It's difficult because I feel like I'm writing an eye-rolling 'actually, no, this man in Hollywood is not a mysoginist' post. I just don't get the sense that he hates Monroe, or women, he's just not interested in telling the story of her life in this particular film.

 

I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to seeing it, because it sounds like it's going to be pretty bleak, but I do very much want to watch it to see how it compares to what he's said in that interview

 

Yeah, I don't think something has to be a narrative account in the lame biopic style, but I don't think you can make a comment on the image, without commenting on the real person, which is what he is doing but only in all the negative aspects of her life. The selectiveness of literal events being chosen of abuse, abusive relationships, etc. alone tells a lot, imo. And it's baffling to read he doesn't think it's a film about the person, based on this. He sounds, in this interview, not as smart as he thinks he is, and he handwaves away any question the interviewer (who is excellent) with dismissive answers when he's approached with something he clearly hasn't thought through.

 

For example, there's no way this filmmaker is making a film about the image of Monroe, without Norma Jean sucking JFK off. So he's having his cake and eating it too.

 

And if you are just commenting on the image, well, that's basically what the filmmakers who had her in films did, so he's just the latest in line to exploit it, at best.

 

Then again, people loved The Assassination of Jessie James By The Coward Robert Ford, which as a long, slow version of Eminem's Stan.

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Gambit

Gambit

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Festoon said:

Read an interview with the Blonde director Andrew Dominik. What a fucking creep. Not watching that.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/im-not-interested-reality-im-interested-images-andrew-dominik-blonde

 

I really don't like women-focused films from creepy men. I've the same problem with Pablo Larraín.

 

 

 

I'm about an hour into Blonde and am about to bin it. Pure misery. And that interview paints the director in not a great light at all.

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, Gambit said:

 

I'm about an hour into Blonde and am about to bin it. Pure misery. And that interview paints the director in not a great light at all.

 

Yeah, I think the knowledgeable interviewer showed him up as very facile, but in such a way as he wasn't smart enough to notice.

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
On 30/09/2022 at 22:17, Broker said:

Do Revenge is long, more endings than Return of the King on that one. It was fine I guess, but I felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be clever which it didn’t need. 

 

Basically, it's a lame, witless, boring version of the excellent Mindy Kaling series Never Have I Ever, also available on Netflix.

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Quest said:

 

Oh, that's my friend! She seems to have a knack for getting dumb film directors to tell on themselves.

 

She's a great interviewer. A real case of knowledgeable, balanced interviewer interviews an arrogant cock who seems unbalanced by the fact that having strong opinions doesn't quite match a centred person who knows more about the subject than he does. Masterful stuff.

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Moz

Moz

Posted
Posted

Telluhtubbehs. Stoppppp itttttttt.

 

Anyway. I’m a huge Mike Flanagan fan, but I’m finding Midnight Club incredibly hard going. The performers are all just the worst, it’s laboriously lumpy, it’s not scary or thought provoking or interesting. The endless, laughable piano plonking and teeny moping and grizzling is really grating. It’s a shame because it’s a good concept, short stories couched in a mystery box with a Flanaganesque setup. Such a step down from Midnight Mass in every conceivable way. 

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Festoon

Festoon

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Moz said:

Telluhtubbehs. Stoppppp itttttttt.

 

Anyway. I’m a huge Mike Flanagan fan, but I’m finding Midnight Club incredibly hard going. The performers are all just the worst, it’s laboriously lumpy, it’s not scary or thought provoking or interesting. The endless, laughable piano plonking and teeny moping and grizzling is really grating. It’s a shame because it’s a good concept, short stories couched in a mystery box with a Flanaganesque setup. Such a step down from Midnight Mass in every conceivable way. 

 

It's a job for hire thing, though, not his next main gig.

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Pelekophoros

Pelekophoros

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, ChristopherBloodAxe said:

The Stranger with Sean Harris is a really good slow burner, apparently based on a true story. [Redacted]

 

I came to this completely blind so that'd be a bit of a spoiler for anyone else looking to do the same. I think it's richer for not knowing at the outset.

 

I 'enjoyed' it. It's a film that doesn't quite pull off any of the things it's trying to do but ends feeling endlessly tense and mesmerising as a result.

 

Spoiler

We only really get hints of the frustration Mark is feeling as he loses his mind to the mission.

 

The slow reveal that it's an entire undercover sting operation is well handled, but the timeline mixing with the investigating detective is too strong a red herring, resulting in no pay off at all for.something that felt quite built up. It does work at the tail end though; the confirmation of Henry's guilt being brilliantly handled.

 

But none of that really matters. Both lead actors are wonderful in it. I loved the understated nature of everything, this weird spiritual trip that cuts everything off randomly.

 

My wife hated it. 

 

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