Marilyn Monroe has been gone for over 50 years but the fascination with the Hollywood sex symbol has endured and the mystic remains. Love Marilyn by filmmaker Liz Garbus is a documentary film that incorporates Monroe's own words and gives viewers a slightly different perspective of the star's life. Love Marilyn premiered on HBO as part of its Summer Documentary Series on Monday June 17 2013.
)The mystique of celebrity Marilyn Monroe has been documented in film commentary and popular culture. Her legend has far outlived her short 36 years on earth. One might wonder if there is anything new to reveal about the enigma.
Emmy nominated director Liz Garbus (HBO s Bobby Fischer Against The World The Farm Angola ) presents the story of Monroe in a fresh seeming format that incorporates the actresses own words revealed through private journals notes and letters. An A List of popular actors interpret the words of Monroe and her contemporaries giving the words life and expression.
The recently discovered notes letters and diaries reveal Monroe's personal thoughts. The readings are interspersed with rarely seen film footage photographs and audio tapes to give viewers a picture of the enigma.
Love Marilyn features readings and appearances by Elizabeth Banks Glenn Close Paul Giamatti Jack Huston Lindsay Lohan Jeremy Piven Uma Thurman Marisa Tomei And Evan Rachel Wood. The cast also includes F. Murray Abraham Elizabeth Banks Adrien Brody Ellen Burstyn Hope Davis Viola Davis Jennifer Ehle Ben Foster Stephen Lang Janet McTeer Oliver Platt David Strathairn and Lili Taylor according to a press release from HBO.
The story of Monroe's life has been recorded and repeated many times but sometimes the essence of the woman is missing. Monroe was a vulnerable woman in a tough business. The actress had hopes dreams and insecurities much as anyone else.
The film includes interviews with two of Monroe's ex husbands playwright Arthur Miller and baseball player Joe DiMaggio. Adding to the picture is footage from contemporaries of Monroe's including Amy Greene Molly Haskell Truman Capote Norman Mailer Elia Kazan Sir Laurence Olivier and others. Amy Greene the widow of photographer Milton Greene and longtime friend of Monroe's was interviewed for the film offering a personal picture of Monroe who lived with the couple in Connecticut for a time.
In her writings Monroe talks about crucial events and relationships that shaped her life. The sex siren was born Norma Jeane Mortenson raised in poverty and marked by stints in orphanages and foster homes.The icon talks about her discovery in Hollywood after a brief modeling career her early dedication to fitness and intellectual self improvement the evolution of the Monroe persona and her ascension to stardom in the 1950s via films such as Niagara Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire.
The film covers key events in Monroes life offering her perspective. Included are her ill fated marriage to baseball icon Joe DiMaggio who wanted her to quit show business and become a housewife Monroe s decision to study with Lee Strasberg at the renown Actors Studio in New York where the successful movie star worked to improve at the craft of acting the creation of her own production company and subsequent roles in Bus Stop and The Prince and the Showgirl her stormy marriage to playwright Arthur Miller who wrote 1961 s The Misfits destined to be her final film and her miscarriage.
Most heartbreaking are her battles with depression and her enforced stay at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic which Monroe described as a nightmare. Monroe reached out to ex husband Joe DiMaggio who rescued her from the facility. Subsequently Monroe was treated by psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson in Hollywood.
Monroe defied Fox Studios and notoriously appeared to sing Happy Birthday to President Kennedy causing a scandal. The film does not discuss her reputed affairs with the Kennedy brothers.
In spite of an audio recording from the psychiatric clinic diagnosing Monroe as suicidal during the last months of her life the star seemed victorious in the days before her untimely death. The star's career was back on the upswing and she was photographed looking deliriously happy.
Monroe died on Aug. 5 1962 at the age of 36. The cause of her death ruled an overdose has been the subject of speculation only adding to the Marilyn mystic. Was her death accidental suicide or murder The film does not purport to answer the question but notes that her death so shocked that nation that the reaction was on par with the sudden death of a president.
Love Marilyn had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and received a Gala Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The love letter to Marilyn was written and directed by Liz Garbus produced by Stanley Buchthal Liz Garbus and Amy Hobby executive producer Anne Carey executive producers for Studio Canal Olivier Courson Harold Van Lier Enrique Steiger edited by Azin Samari cinematography by Maryse Alberti music by Philip Sheppard co producer Julie Gaither. For additional information see HBO Documentaries on Facebook.
Love Marilyn is one of HBO's series of summer documentaries premiering on Monday nights on HBO. Other films include Pussy Riot A Punk Prayer (June 10) Miss You Can Do It (June 24) Gideon s Army (July 1) Gasland Part II (July 8) The Crash Reel (July 15) The Cheshire Murders (July 22) First Comes Love (July 29) Casting By (Aug. 5) and Americans in Bed (Aug. 12).
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