My Week with Marilyn- Review

Year: 2011

Writers: Adrian Hodges (screenplay), Colin Clark (book)

Director: Simon Curtis

Starring: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson, Julia Ormond, Judi Dench, Toby Jones and Dominic Cooper.

Plot: Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's witnesses the tense production of the Prince and the Showgirl and falls into an unlikely relationship with the fragile Marilyn Monroe.




So I have just got back from seeing this movie with a good friend and thought I would get the review down on the blog for those of you looking for weekend movie viewing inspiration. My Week with Marilyn is based on 'The Prince, the Showgirl and Me, and 'My Week With Marilyn,' two memoirs by Colin Clark which detailed his time spent as Third Assistant Director on The Prince and the Showgirl filmed in England in 1957.

The Prince and the Showgirl was a troubled production from the start. Laurence Olivier, a classically trained Shakespearean actor grew frustrated with Marilyn Monroe's obsession with Method acting and her need to have her acting mentor Paula Strasberg accompany her everywhere she went on set. For Laurence Olivier acting was just that, acting, but Paula Strasberg had instilled in Marilyn the idea that she had to find and understand the character completely and not do something in a scene if she didn't feel that it was true to the character. Fragile Marilyn was struggling with a third possible failed marriage to Arthur Miller and her entourage was keen to keep her doped up on pills to make her easier to control.

My Week with Marilyn has been considerably hyped due to the performance by the lead actress Michelle Williams and I would say that overall this hype is thoroughly deserved. Michelle Williams performance is utterly convincing. She manages to successfully convey the sensuality and movie star charisma of the public Marilyn while at the same time tapping into the vulnerability and instability of the woman behind the spotlight. There are times in the movie when Marilyn hints at her fractured childhood and her desperate need for children and Michelle Williams plays this with such subtlety and pathos, that at times it was very sad to watch knowing what we now do about her tragic death. The only time I felt she failed to achieve Marilyn's magnetism was when she was recreating the scenes from the movie. She didn't have the same sparkle as the original.

Kenneth Branagh was for me a slight week point in the production. He has publically stated how much he admires Olivier and I often felt like his performance, although excellent, was a little bit too much of direct impersonation and slightly hammy. Eddie Redmayne was the heart of the story as the naive Colin Clark and his relationship with Marilyn felt believable. The rest of the cast should also be commended, especially Judi Dench who plays Dame Sybil Thorndike, the ageing actress who tries her best to make Marilyn feel comfortable on the increasingly tense set and Zoe Wanamaker as Paula Strasberg. Julia Ormond as Vivien Leigh barely has anything of consequence to do and she failed to make any impression in a role which could have made more of the obvious jealousy that Vivien would have felt towards Marilyn.

This film is incredibly enjoyable and manages to mix humour and pathos in equal measure. At 99 minutes it is an easy watch and plays more like a good old fashioned English comedy drama then a heavyweight movie biopic! It appears to be the director Simon Curtis' first film, having previously focused on directing BBC period dramas such as Cranford and David Copperfield.

I would definitely recommend this and look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks about it. Check out the trailer below and a clip from one of my favourite scenes.

Trivia: For Downton Abbey fans, this movie has two links to the period drama. Not only does Carson the Butler have a small role as a pub landlord, but the director Simon Curtis is married to Elizabeth Mcgovern  who plays Cora the Countess of Grantham!