In a film filled with uncomfortable and controversial scenes starring screen icon Marilyn Monroe, Netflix’s “Blonde” concludes with a “haunting” scene, according to writer-director Andrew Dominik.
“Blonde” (now available on Netflix) is a historical fiction film based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 1999 novel of the same name. Ana de Armas, on the other hand, personifies the universally adored and misunderstood Marilyn Monroe in instantly recognisable stages of the blonde bombshell’s life for the film, which received an NC-17 rating due to its explicit scenes.
The ending includes well-known details from Monroe’s tragic death in 1962, right down to filming in the room where she died. However, it is still a fictitious account.
Here’s what happens and why it happens:
Marilyn Monroe was discovered dead in her Los Angeles home on August 4, 1962, from an overdose of barbiturates, after years of public adoration and private struggles.
A psychiatrist broke into Monroe’s room at 3:30 a.m. and discovered her naked, face down on her bed, clutching a phone receiver. She had been dead for six to eight hours.
While “Blonde” alludes to the dangers of having an affair with powerful men such as President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson), the ending does not support the conspiracy theory that Monroe was assassinated. Her death was determined to be the result of “a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs,” according to police.
The pill-taking in “Blonde” occurs after Monroe receives emotionally distressing news. Monroe is shown in blurred focus, naked in bed with the phone, distraught.
“The big idea for that whole sequence was to dissolve into pure emotion, and it should be out of focus,” Dominik explains. “But it’s also the drugs’ grogginess.”
The entire sequence was shot in Monroe’s Los Angeles home, one of several real locations used in films. The production team even restored a wall that had been removed in the bedroom to its original state.
Monroe’s lifeless feet stick out over the bed in the final, extended shot. Dominik claims that the shot was created by cinematographer Chayse Irvin “I recently discovered. And that image is absolutely haunting.”
The light on the wall changes from morning to dusk to darkness, and the sounds from the window change from early morning birds to children playing to silence.
“At the end of the movie, you’re just sitting there watching her legs for an uncomfortable amount of time,” de Armas says, adding that the perspective reflects how even Monroe’s fans watched as she emotionally unravelled privately. “That, I believe, is the point; I believe we’ve been watching this unfold the entire time. It happened to her, and it is happening to many actors right now. We can see the conflict. Their lives are being snuffed out. And we’ll keep an eye on things.”
The passing of time, with Monroe lifeless and alone, is also a revelation about one of the world’s biggest movie stars, according to de Armas. The growing chasm between Monroe’s private life and her glamorous public persona is a major theme in “Blonde,” and the final shot is the final statement.
“How did you become the most famous, desired, and desired person? To have everything. And then something similar happens to you. For how long will you be alone?” De Armas says. “That is the plot of the film. The perception of success and celebrity, as well as this glamorous image. We don’t want to look beneath because we want to maintain that ideal.”
