Paul Schrader tends to be pretty blunt when it comes to his Facebook posts, which is why his page is one of the most essential for cinephiles at the moment.
A mix of political rhetoric, personal stories and movie reviewing, Schrader’s Facebook has caused controversy many times over these last few years. The writer-director even admitted, a few years back, that, after defending Kevin Spacey, he was put in Facebook jail by “First Reformed” studio A24.
I figured Schrader would dig Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” but he also has an interesting take on the film’s controversy.
Schrader basically says that the film would be freed from all the media hoopla if it weren’t about Monroe, but just an unidentified actress. I somewhat agree. Dominik and Oates have been very clear that this is a fictionalized account of the actress, but the film’s detractors clearly don’t give a damn.
The fact that it was Monroe brought in a hefty amount of bait for people who couldn’t take it that a white male director would tackle such a fervent cinematic icon in such a sexual way. To the point now where Dominik is being accused of total exploitation.
Many of the film’s purported ”flaws” would have become assets if it had escaped Joyce Carol Oates’ fictional depiction about a real human being. Then again, would the film have been as fascinating to watch if we weren’t told that this was Marilyn Monroe? I’m not entirely sure. A vaguer interpretation would have surely given it very far different vibes. Alas, we’ll never really know because “Blonde” is now very much a “Marilyn Monroe” movie.
I figured many readers here would love “Blonde” and there’s been plenty of passion tossed around in the comments section for it (as well as some hate).
