My Week with Marilyn
[youtube=http://youtu.be/U_tbnTM7zVE]
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. In 1956, the 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), was a fresh-faced pup, determined to make it in show-business. And so he worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, which was the movie that saw Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) team up. At the time, Monroe was on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Seems like ripe material to be written down and nearly 40 years later, Clark’s diary, The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing, eventually seeing the light of day as My Week with Marilyn, which has now made it to the silver screen, thus completing the artistic circle.
Williams’ performance has been heralded by all and sundry. Our own Mary Pols wrote that she “locates a central truth, the contradictory allure of this utterly impossible woman – mercurial, vain, foolish, but also intelligent in some very primal way and achingly vulnerable.” And Rolling Stone reflects that, “It took a toll on Marilyn Monroe to look effortlessly buoyant on camera. Michelle Williams lets us see why. It’s a great, soulful performance. Sit back and behold.” An Oscar nomination – which eluded Monroe during her all too short life – should be forthcoming.