I can think of no higher praise than to be compared to both Monroe and Garbo in the same sentence. That is the compliment paid by Thelma Adams of the New York Film Critics Circle to actress Kirsten Dunst for her performance in Swedish film-maker Lars Von Triers’ Melancholia.
“Kirsten Dunst, like Drew Barrymore or Lindsay Lohan, is a blond that grew up in front of the camera – arguably the most gorgeous, and certainly the finest actress of the three…
But, as the actress aged, despite the roles cast her way, there was a sneaking Garbo, a larger, more disturbing presence, the potential for a knock-down drag out fight between beauty and bitterness thatMarie Antoinette suggested. It comes to full fruition in Melancholia, where even a girl with fairy-tale princess looks can never have a happily ever after.
As written and directed by Lars von Trier, and arguably a projection of his own struggles with clinical depression (the shingle is out), Dunst’s Alice in Apocalypseland starts off as a gorgeous canvas, a surface beauty. Her veneer is so vivid that it weighs on her – because she knows and is consumed by the darkness within. It’s the Marilyn Monroe tragedy, the moment when Garbo wants to be alone.”
Strangely, I can think of another Von Triers heroine who reminded me of Marilyn – Nicole Kidman as the runaway stranger sheltered, and later abused by villagers in Dogville (2003.)
Can you name any movies where an actress or character has somehow made you think of Marilyn, without looking like her or in any way being an impersonation?
