My Week with Marilyn

My whole life, I have grown up idolizing and fantasizing about one Norma Jean Mortenson and how I have been unlucky enough to be born into a generation which did not see here alive. And I am quite certain that I am not alone in this world. Just looking at photographs is sufficient for most men to feel the absence of knee caps or for that matter feet of any kind. And it really didn’t matter if you are at the bottom of the food chain or as high as the likes of JFK or in this case Laurence Olivier. The reaction that the first lady of Hollywood got from the male of any species would have been the same. So I guess it was only a matter of time to get the right script for a movie that would show the original diva in her complete glory.

My week with Marilyn is the true life story – yes indeed it is true, much to the heartbreak of most people in 1956 and even now – of one Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne). Colin is best known for his book The Prince, The Showgirl and Me. Quite aptly titled considering that Colin met Marilyn (Michelle Williams) on the sets of 1957 hit The Prince & The Showgirl where he was 3rd Assistant to Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). The story dates back to 1956 when Marilyn flew down to England for shooting the movie. A couple of weeks into the movie, she developed a serious fondness for Colin perhaps because he is the only person who seems to understand. The fondness turns into a relationship for a week with the nonchalance and the eccentricities that only Marilyn could be associated with.

Written by Adrian Hodges & Colin Clark, My week with Marilyn has been nominated for 2 oscars – Michelle Williams for best actress & Kenneth Branagh for Best Supporting actor. Another nomination I could have thought of would have been screenplay. Some of the dialogues just kill you. Like when Olivier tells Clark, “Remember boy, when it comes to women, you are never too old for humiliation” & when Olivier helplessly admits to him that, “What I see in that magnificient face is a reflection of my own inadequacy”. Worth mentioning is when Dame Sybil Thorndike (Judi Dench) tells Clark, “First love is such sweet despair Colin”. And lastly when Colin admits that, “My only talent was not to close my eyes”.

The enigma called Marilyn cannot remotely be recreated on screen but the effort put by the team and Michelle Williams in particular is stunning. Many of us would have passed out… maybe even passed away if Marilyn Monroe had kissed us. I would have been in the latter group. But Colin Clark not only stayed on his feet but went on to write a book about it. He is officially on date the man I envy the most. 7.5 on 10 for this magnificient effort dedicated to a goddess.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2677710361/