My Week with Marilyn

The film is based on the book The Prince, the Showgirl and Me: The Colin Clark Diaries, published in 1995 by Colin Clark and based on diaries written in 1957, when he was assistant director for the film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier.

The film recounts the week Monroe spent in Britain shooting the film and the time she had together with Clark (who later became a director and screenwriter).

Excellent performances by Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Redmayne as Marilyn Monroe, Lawrence Olivier and Colin Clark respectively.

The film lives on the personality of Marilyn, who seems to overshadow any other character; her overwhelming power is opposed by Lawrence Olivier (considered by most the greatest English theatre actor in history), who feels an evident attraction for her and at the same time a strong professional competition; and Colin Clark, the young man who with his desire to live and work in the cinema sometimes succeeds in making the public forget that Marilyn is the undisputed star.

But why is a film about Marilyn Monroe in this blog?

See the trailer first, then I’ll tell you more.

How to watch the film

A few points struck me:

• Colin Clark’s passion for filmmaking and his determination to make his own way. Colin’s character, his glance, his determination should be closely watched by anyone looking for a job or who has not experienced yet what it means to have a genuine passion for what you do;
• Marylin, extraordinary in her talent and fragility, reveals herself in the constant search for emotional stability that she never achieved;
• the rivalry that pervades Lawrence Olivier, who is both infatuated with the actress and annoyed by an American actress who was able to steal his media attention and was far more comfortable than him in front of the camera (see below some scenes from the film The Prince and the Showgirl).

In short, a film that makes us relive the memory of Marilyn by taking her out of the myth and re-proposing her as a superlative actress, able to compete on the stage with one of the greatest theatre actors of all time.

Is that enough to see it?

Cast

Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dominic Cooper, Dougray Scott, Julia Ormond, Judi Dench, Emma Watson, …