A Glimpse Into Her Life

My Week With Marilyn, based on Colin Clark’s memoir of the same name, gave us (the viewers) a glimpse into her life.

This movie follows the players in the making of The Prince and The Showgirl, featuring Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe.

“Sir Laurence Olivier is making a movie in London. Young Colin Clark, an eager film student, wants to be involved and he navigates himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to see the blonde bombshell, while Olivier is struggling to meet her many demands and acting ineptness, and Colin is intrigued by her. Colin’s intrigue is met when Marilyn invites him into her inner world where she struggles with her fame, her beauty and her desire to be a great actress.” (Written by napierslogs, from www.IMDb.com)

Michelle Williams did an outstanding job as the blonde bombshell. Her look, her voice, and possibly some of her mannerisms were spot-on as Marilyn Monroe.

I scanned a few reviews on IMDb.com and some were nice while others were not-so-nice. Some called Michelle Williams’ portrayal of Marilyn as “blah” and other slammed the “poor performances” of her co-stars. I thought everyone did a great job!

Some of the great actors that co-starred along side Michelle Williams included Eddie Redmayne (as Colin Clark), Julia Ormond (as Vivien Leigh), Sir Kenneth Branagh (as Sir Laurence Olivier), Dougray Scott (as Arthur Miller), Toby Jones (as Arthur Jones), Dominic Cooper (as Milton Greene), Dame Judi Dench (as Dame Sybil Thorndike), and Emma Watson (as Lucy).

Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, played the sweet Lucy, Colin Clark’s (played by Eddie Redmayne) love interest.

Lucy: Did she break your heart?
Colin Clark: A little.
Lucy: Good, it needed breaking.

I haven’t read either of Clark’s books – The Prince, The Showgirl and Me or My Week With Marilyn. The first book was based on a set a diaries that Clark kept while he worked as Sir Olivier’s personal assistant and the second book was a memoir of his alleged relationship with Marilyn Monroe.

Colin Clark: Here’s what I remember most: her embrace. Her belief in me. And the joy she gave. That was her gift. When I think of her now, I think of that time when a dream came true. And my only talent was not to close my eyes.

If Marilyn Monroe’s life was truly as Michelle Williams portrayed her – as a boozing-pill-popping-almost-always-late-to-the-set actress – then Ms. Monroe led a very sad life.

Earlier this month, I wrote a tribute to Marilyn Monroe (check it out here) on what was the 50th anniversary of her death.

In my opinion, this movie portrayed Marilyn Monroe as a lost soul in search of something. What that something was we’ll never know, but like many other young actors and actresses (or young celebrities, for that matter), her life ended too soon. She seemed too dependent on her acting coach and put too much count into what others thought of her, including her husband, Arthur Miller.

“Contradiction is always a neat thing in any human being. And maybe it was the extremes in her that made her so irresistible, but also made her life so painful – because you can’t portray those dramatics without experiencing them first,” said Williams of Marilyn Monroe. (quote from www.IMDb.com)

When asked about playing Marilyn Monroe, Williams said, “I wish that I could play her for the rest of my life. Because when can you say that you’ve really solved the riddle? When can you say that you really know her? Her deepest desire was to be taken seriously as an actress, but she doesn’t really shine in her serious roles. Where she happens to shine is in comedy and in song and dance, but she denied that. She essentially said, ‘It’s not what I’m good at’. She didn’t know it, but she clearly was incandescent.” (quote from www.IMDb.com)

Again, I enjoyed Michelle William’s performance. She was superb! I enjoyed this movie because it made me feel “emotions”. It made me smile and it made me a little teary-eyed.

Have you seen My Week With Marilyn? What are your thoughts on this movie or the cast? I’d love to hear from you!

I hope you have a great day!