the reason marilyn can’t remember the line
is because she doesn’t believe the situation her character is in
then she should pretend to believe it
pretend? what we are talking about is the difference between
the truth and artificial crap
we’re in absolute agreement. acting is all about truth.
and if you can fake that, you’ll have a jolly good career
i liked this movie, but maybe not for the intended reasons.
the quote above is from a dialogue between laurence olivier (kenneth branagh) and paula strasberg (zoe wanamaker). they are trying to film a scene and marilyn monroe keeps forgetting her line. olivier is directing. the dialogue they have in the ensuing fight is a perfect depiction of the divide between the stanislavski method acting and the more classical acting that olivier was a proponent of.
it reminds me of one of my favorite acting stories, which may be apocraphyl, but is still illustrative of the difference of approach between the two schools.
during the filming of marathon man, dustin hoffman reportedly stayed up all night so he could look haggard and tired for a scene the next day. laurence olivier arrived on the scene and after hearing about hoffman’s preperation said ‘next time try acting, dear boy. it’s much easier’.
anyways – it was mainly this about this movie that interested me as i watched it.
but it’s a fine movie. a small movie. it tells the tale of marilyn monroe visiting england at the behest of laurence olivier to act in a film he directed, the prince and the showgirl.
it’s told from the point of view of a young crew member, colin clark (eddie redmayne). the film is based on clark’s diary of his brief time spent with marilyn, and from the point of view of his character, it’s so complimentary and simple that you wonder how much of his diary was daydreaming.
but the dilemma marilyn lived with, and michelle williams’ soulful (and sometimes, fun) portrayal make this a wonderful little movie.
branagh is strong, as usual, playing laurence olivier, the man whose mantle he seems to have picked up. he is a worthy actor. i think he, like olivier before him, is the greatest shakespearean actor of his generation. one day i’ll write about seeing his unexpurgated, 70mm version of hamlet in the theater. i saw it at a critical time in my cinematic development. every time i see him i am grateful.
in marilyn monroe’s life, she seemed to struggle with the idea that she was loved only for her beauty. this troubled her. she seemed to want more than just ‘fame’ for fames sake. she studied method acting with lee strasberg. she married the great playwright arthur miller, and was disturbed when she thought he created an unflattering character that seemed to be based on someone like her.
she was surrounded by a world that seemed solely interested in fucking her.
this is interesting when you look at celebrity in the modern age. people are now famous simply because they just got fucked. by this i mean that the sex tape is now a legitimate PR move, whether it’s paris hilton or kim kardashian. and their type of empty, famous-for-just-being-me fame is the public goal for the shameless and the secret goal of scores more young people, both male and female.
eventually, marilyn monroe committed suicide, or died accidentally, trying to calm the voice inside her that told her it was all bullshit
you see, in her time, bullshit was called. now bullshit is celebrated. times have changed.
did she break your heart?
a little…
good. it needed breaking
