The inner life of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe is revealed in Director Andrew Dominik’s drama, Blonde.
Based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Dominik’s film reimagines Monroe’s life, from her volatile childhood, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, blurring fact and fiction to explore the chasm between her public and private selves.
On September 18, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Dominik discussed the making of Blonde during a Q&A moderated by Director Julian Schnabel (At Eternity's Gate).
During the conversation, Dominik agreed with Schnabel that audiences needn’t be familiar with Oates’s book in order to fully appreciate the film. “I think the idea of the movie is the primary relationship is between the viewer and her. We, the audience, understand everything that she does — but no other character in the story does — because we've gone through her life with her. It creates a particular feeling of intimacy that's uncommon because it's a very lonely movie. Nobody else sees her and I think that's the whole appeal of Marilyn Monroe. I think that's the meaning of Marilyn Monroe. I think anything that's done on Marilyn Monroe essentially adopts that attitude.”
Dominik’s other directorial credits include the feature films The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly; the documentaries One More Time with Feeling and This Much I Know to Be True; and episodes of Mindhunter.
Dominik has been a DGA member since 2005.