Movies that premiere at the Venice Film Festival always get standing ovations. It’s an inevitable thing, sure as day turns into night, to stand up and clap as the credits roll, a tradition that won’t ever be broken.
The standing ovations at this year’s Venice have lasted anywhere between 4-9 minutes, Michel Franco’s “Memory” garnered an 8-minute ovation last night, with Jessica Chastain wiping away tears as it went on and on and on.
At last year’s edition of Venice, one of the more hated films, at least by US/UK critics, was without a doubt Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde,” but color me surprised to learn that it had a 14-minute standing ovation?! A hand-soring, feet-aching, record-breaking feat. I don’t think I knew that.
Critics were haters of “Blonde.” However, some of them also had their knives sharpened against Dominik, for various reasons, one of which was due to the controversial interviews he was giving to promote the film, the other being his utter refusal to portray Monroe as a symbol of female empowerment.
The idiots who run the Razzies also decided to name “Blonde” their Worst Picture of the year prize — an award that, over time, will age like milk. You can dislike the film all you want, but no way was it the worst film released last year.
When I watched “Blonde” I was enthralled by the first two hours and change, even though Dominik kind of hit a total wall in the film’s final stretch. De Armas was great and I love how the film was fearless in showcasing the abusive horndogs Monroe had to deal with.
Monroe is depicted as a supreme martyr of the 20th-century. It’s basically “The Passion of the Christ,” but with Monroe replacing Jesus. She just gets physically and mentally tortured throughout. Dominik greased his Gibson fumes here.
It’s a movie that tries to capture who Monroe actually was. That’s what I liked about “Blonde.” It’s probably the best account of what was truly occurring inside Monroe’s head. Other depictions have failed in their attempts to convey the inner torture, the demons inside her psyche. It’s torturous psychodrama.
For all of the the film’s detractors, there is also a fervently passionate number of supporters out there, most notably on this site. “Blonde” finished 9th in our Readers Poll of the Best 2022 Films.
The can also claim to have Pedro Almodovar and Paul Schrader as superfans.