Blonde (2022)

In this tragedy, based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, Ana de Armas is magnificent as the doomed star and thusly Oscar-nominated. The picture is gorgeous––cinematography, sets, wardrobe. But it's very sad and two and a half hours long. Hard to "enjoy," though I think it's good. 

Supporting strength comes from Julianne Nicholson as Monroe's mother, and, as two of her husbands, Bobby Cannavale as Joe DiMaggio (credited as "Ex-Athlete") and Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller ("The Playwright").

Director Andrew Dominik adapted the screenplay from Joyce Carol Oates' best selling 2000 novel, which was a Pulitzer finalist. It is fictionalized, as it contains horrors that did not happen. Here's an article about the book and what inspired Oates to write it.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis's moody score can be streamed on Apple Music and probably elsewhere. Contributing to the look are cinematographer Chayse Irvin, production designer Florencia Martin, and costume designer Jennifer Johnson. And apparently de Armas wore dental prosthetics to make her look so much like Monroe.

Production company Plan B Entertainment, currently run by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, was behind this one, along with recent releases Women Talking and She Said, all of which focus on abuse of women. Not long ago I heard a short clip on NPR with Gardner mentioning the connections between the three, but since then I haven't been able to find the clip, much less the whole segment.

Due to nudity and sexual content, this is the first American movie to be rated NC-17 in nine years.

De Armas was last blogged for Knives Out, Nicholson for I'm with Lucy, Cannavale for Ant-Man (though he's been in plenty since then), Brody for See How They Run, and Cave and Ellis for Hell or High Water. This is Dominik's fifth time directing a feature and he wrote all but one. Irvin shot BlacKkKlansman and more, Martin designed Licorice Pizza and more, and Johnson dressed, among others, Beginners, 20th Century Women,  Kajillionaire, and I, Tonya, the latter also a period piece based on true characters. Come to think of it, BlacKkKlansman, Licorice Pizza, and 20th Century Women are set in the recent past as well.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics do not deem this platinum, averaging only 42%, while its audiences' roots are showing at 32. I downloaded it from Netflix and watched part of it on a plane ride and the rest in a hotel at the start of a vacation February 11.