WILLIAMS. Rapturous evocation of the Blonde Bombshell.
IF you love the movies and the legendary figures who helped shape them into an industry and global “spectator sport,” you don’t want to miss Simon Curtis’ “My Week With Marilyn,” not only because of its humanizing depiction of movie stars, but also for Michelle Williams’ achingly luminous, Oscar-nominated portrayal of Marilyn Monroe. It’s a career-defining turn that perpetuates the Blonde Bombshell’s mystique and lasting appeal.
The film isn’t a biopic—it is told from the perspective of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a 23-year-old production assistant who formed an unlikely bond with the then 30-year-old star when she went to England at the height of her popularity in 1956 to shoot “The Prince and the Showgirl,” opposite actor/director Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh).
As fate would have it, the young Englishman ended up escorting the painfully insecure screen vixen when her husband, Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), returned to the United States. Shortly after, Monroe read the plot of Miller’s new play—which appeared to poke fun at her!
Dedication
Marilyn couldn’t find solace on the set, either. In fact, Olivier could see only madness in Monroe’s dedication to Method acting—and hated the presence of her acting coach, Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker), on the set (“Are there two directors here?”).
The British thespian conveniently hid his crush on Monroe by cruelly berating her in front of her co-stars, like Sybil Thorndike (Judi Dench)! For him, “teaching Marilyn how to act is like teaching urdu to a badger!”
But, while it was true that Marilyn came to the set late and often forgot her lines, it was also obvious to everybody that, as Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond), Olivier’s wife, aptly noted, “when she gets her lines right, you don’t want to look at anybody else!”
Branagh, who was tapped for the role after the more appropriate Ralph Fiennes backed out to do “Coriolanus,” is fierce but physically miscast.
Williams doesn’t completely get the look—but, it’s a pretty close approximation. With her poignantly heart breaking performance, the actress pulls off a high-wire act that lifts Monroe’s veil of mystery by finding the essence of the lost, scared girl hiding behind the movie star’s sensual screen presence. She’s a woman aware of her potent sex appeal, but clueless about her natural gifts as an actress.
But, the soul behind the sass seethes through when she wistfully intones, “Why do the people I love always leave me? As soon as they realize I’m not Monroe, they run”—and she breaks your heart!
OMD at the Big Dome
On the concert scene, nostalgia also plays a significant role when the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) brings its “History of Modern” concert tour to the Araneta Coliseum on March 12 (call 911-5555). If you miss the synthpop sound of the ’80s, listening to “If You Leave,” “So In Love” and “Secret” will transport you back to that big-haired, bright-colored era.
The group may not ring a bell with the bulk of contemporary music’s hip-hop-weaned demographic—but, if you are partial to New Wave, watching the British group’s concert is a must, because its music is up there with that churned out by Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, Psychedelic Furs, Gary Numan, Tears for Fears and The Eurythmics.
Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries founded the group in 1978, later adding Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper to the lineup. But, the latter three left McCluskey in 1989 to form The Listening Pool.
The lure of the Klieg lights (and friendship) have a way of patching severed ties, however: The quartet regrouped in 2007 to headline their SRO reunion tour—a project that resulted in their latest album, “The History of Modern.”