First Review: ‘Love, Marilyn’

Eric Kohn has reviewed Love, Marilyn - Liz Garbus’s upcoming documentary based on Monroe’s personal writing, as collected in the 2010 book, Fragments - for IndieWire. (It was screened this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.)

“In its opening minutes, the documentary Love, Marilyn establishes a gimmick that seems destined to fail: Chronicling the rise and fall of Marilyn Monroe, director Liz Garbus unleashes a collection of movie stars who mainly read excerpts from her personal diaries throughout the film. Watching these contemporary faces dramatize Monroe’s attitude initially creates a grating disconnect from the subject matter. Over time, however, the approach blends into an immersive account of the actress’ career that both deconstructs her celebrity while interrogating its impact on her troubled existence.

Not content to let the actors carry the whole movie, Garbus also includes interviews with Monroe acquaintances and scholars as well as rare archival footage.

Attempts to explore Monroe’s off-screen persona in narrative form, including last year’s My Week With Marilyn and Nicolas Roeg’s Insignificance, tend to embellish on the actress’ personality by nature of their interpretative format. Love, Marilyn achieves greater clarity by letting the actress lead the way. As her struggle congeals, the collection of performances gain a strong justification: For over a decade, the actress battled to reconcile her public image with her true self. Sifting through the many faces that play her in Love, Marilyn, so must we.

Criticwire gradeB+

HOW WILL IT PLAY? Destined for distribution with a company that can play up its potential on VOD, “Love, Marilyn” is also likely to find warm reception at numerous film festivals. Its next stop is in Toronto.”


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