Actor Adrien Brody jumped to the defense of Netflix’s NSFW film “Blonde”, his latest onscreen venture after initial reviews were nothing if not disappointing.
The release of the Andrew Dominik-directed drama, which is rated a rare and staggering NC-17, has proven to be controversial as many slammed the film for its portrayal of the late Marilyn Monroe.
Brody, who plays Monroe’s third husband Arthur Miller in the film, shrugged off the criticism and instead called Dominik “beautifully brave” for tackling the film the way he did.
“I think that since it’s told in this first-person perspective, it works somehow for the film to be a traumatic experience,” Brody told The Hollywood Reporter. “Because you’re inside of her – her journey and her longings and her isolation – amidst all of this adulation.”
“It’s brave and it takes a while to digest,” Brody, 49, continued. “And I think it’s in conflict with what the public’s perception of what her life is.”
He continued, “And I think that’s where the film triumphs, because – whether it’s an extreme depiction or not – it’s honoring the extreme chasm between the public’s perception of the fame and the glory of Hollywood’s most famous, iconic actor, and the reality of that individual – the loneliness and emptiness and mental turmoil and abuse of that individual.”
“It’s fearless filmmaking,” the Oscar winner concluded.
The film is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same name and also stars Ana de Armas, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Toby Huss, and Julianne Nicholson.
De Armas, who plays Monroe, was so intent on portraying the screen icon’s life story as accurately as possible she visited Monroe’s grave in Los Angeles to ask for her permission.
Dominik, 54, previously said that he knew he found his Monroe when de Armas walked into the casting room.
“It was like love at first sight,” Dominik said at the Venice premiere. “When the right person walks through the door, you know it.”
The Post’s two-star review of the film describes it as “hollow,” and says the film “amounts to one brutally horrible moment after another.”
The post Adrien Brody says ‘Blonde’ is ‘fearless filmmaking,’ meant to be a ‘traumatic experience’ appeared first on Page Six.
