My Week with Marilyn

First Hit: I really liked this small snippet view of Marilyn’s life.

I remember viewing a few early films with Marilyn in them and wondering how much of what I saw on screen was an act or was it just her.

“My Week with Marilyn,” if anything, added to my belief that she was mostly being herself and not a particular character. Michelle Williams plays Marilyn as I would have perceived her to be. Smart but in a childlike way; difficult to work with because of her stage fright and performance fears; and quirky because her beauty created situations of which I think she was ill prepared to deal with.

This film takes place during a week of filming “The Prince and The Showgirl” with Sir Laurence Olivier (played by Kenneth Branagh). During this time the studio has hired a young man as 3rd Assistant Director (gofer) named Colin Clark (played by Eddie Redmayne).

Colin befriends Marilyn and it is his story that this film is representing. Clark wants to be in films and although he comes from a wealthy family, he will do anything to work in films. When he gets hired on this film to work with Olivier and Monroe he is in heaven. However, he quickly realizes that this is a difficult art which can be made more difficult by quirky people.

Monroe, famous for her stage fright, showing up for work hours late, and flubbing her lines, infuriates Oliver who is also directing the picture they are in. His anger and not so gentle put-downs of Marilyn’s foibles create even more tension which pushes Marilyn deeper into despair.

This is where Clark gets his chance; he’s young, sympathetic, and bends to Marilyn’s requests for companionship even though she is married at the time to Arthur Miller (played by Dougray Scott). This is the story about Clark and how he grew to know that when Marilyn was on her game she captivated people, but when she was off her game she frustrated and disappointed people, including him.

Williams was fabulous as Marilyn. For me she captured all that Marilyn’s screen persona was about while giving a glimpse as to who Marilyn was. Branagh was perfect as the arrogant English Sir Laurence Olivier who felt that Hollywood filmmaking and acting was more of learned craft and that actors needed to study the way he did. Redmayne was great as the wide-eyed naive young Clark who was confident enough of his character and charm that Marilyn might actually leave her life for him. Scott was dark and broody while succumbing to Monroe; it's what I would have pictured for Miller's character. Julia Ormond was simply charming as Vivian Leigh, Olivier’s wife. Emma Watson was very engaging as the costume girl Lucy that Colin first wanted to date until Marilyn captured his attention. Adrian Hodges wrote the script from a book by the real Colin Clark. Simon Curtis captured the beautiful scenes, sets and Williams as Monroe in a way that made the story come alive.

Overall: I enjoyed this film and its glimpse at an iconic film star.

The Music Never Stopped

First Hit: I fell in love with this film because of the music and the power of its ability to connect the dots.

What would you do and how would you feel if your 17 year old son stormed out of your house and life because of an argument and then you receive a call 20 years later that he is in the hospital suffering from a large benign tumor?

This is that story and the story of how the father, Henry Sawyer (played by J.K. Simmons) and his son, Gabriel (played by Lou Taylor Pucci) begin to repair their relationship even though the son has no long term memory.

The film begins with the young family enjoying music together with the father quizzing his son on the song titles, who composed them, and what that song means to the father. The father is innocent enough in his zeal to connect with this son in this way. But what isn’t happening, as the son enters his teenage years during the sixties, is that the son is creating memories of his own to the music of his time.

After the son has the operation to take out a significant part of his brain, the father tries to help his son regain some memory through music therapy as practiced by Dianne Daley (played by Julia Ormond). Daley discovers that with certain songs of the sixties; exact memories are brought forth for Gabriel and he’s totally lucid when the song is playing.

The memories which are brought forth are sometimes painful and other times joyous and fun. During the lucid moments Gabriel talks about the pain of not being understood by his father. In one painful memory is the story as to why he left home some 20 years earlier.

In a beautiful telling moment Henry’s wife Helen (played by Cara Seymour) tells Henry that his son’s memories are correct and exactly how she saw them and that as long as he refuses to see this truth, she will not sleep in the same bed with him. This hits Henry straight in the heart and he sets out to learn his son’s music and learn about his son through the music.

Simmons is dead on perfect for this role. He carries the belief that Nixon team was right, yet humbles himself beautifully when he learns that he was wrong. He carries the joy of connecting with son so fully that one cannot simply let a tear or two fall from one’s eye. Seymour is fabulous as the fifty’s wife who decides to step out of that role and become a more prominent figure in the family. Pucci, is amazing as the almost brain dead person who comes to life when the music is played. Ormond is very good as the music therapist who helps guide both Gabriel and his father back together again. The music – was great to hear and fortunately for me it was my music as well. Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks wrote a stunning script. Jim Kohlberg created a wonderfully paced magical film with a little help from some wonderful musicians which gave him music.

Overall: This was a surprisingly wonderful film which reminds people how much we associate our life to the songs we heard and remember.