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Amazon.co.uk Review
Anyone doubting the layered, nuanced, and heartbreaking acting abilities of Michelle Williams will find My Week with Marilyn a tremendous revelation. And Williams fans will enjoy it even more. In My Week with Marilyn Williams takes on the formidable challenge of playing Marilyn Monroe, and does so with depth and assuredness, and without resorting to caricature. Williams's Marilyn commands the screen with pain and delicacy, and doesn't let go until the final credits. My Week with Marilyn focuses on a small time frame in Monroe's life, right after her marriage to Arthur Miller. Monroe, already "the world's most famous woman," still feels the need for validation as an actress. What better way to achieve that, she believes, than committing to costarring with Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl, a film she firmly believed would finally cement her reputation as a serious actress. My Week with Marilyn is based on the short memoir of Colin Clark, a crew member on The Prince and the Showgirl, who quickly became the confidant of the wildly insecure Monroe and watched a train wreck of egos--mostly Olivier's and Monroe's--collide in a fiery near-disaster. Kenneth Branagh gives an uncharacteristically restrained performance as the exasperated Olivier, resentful of the "new blood" in Hollywood that the young Monroe represents, and disdainful of her cult-like devotion to Method acting. (And of Monroe's chronic tardiness, which threatens to undermine the veddy, veddy strict British work schedule.) Eddie Redmayne plays Clark with a sweet, gentle veneer, someone who grows to care genuinely about the complex Monroe. Julia Ormond is clipped and proper as Olivier's then-wife, Vivien Leigh, and Emma Watson shows a lovely gravitas as Lucy, Monroe's acting coach. But it's Williams who gives the revelatory performance, capturing with painful intensity the insecurity that begins to seep out of Monroe like a fearful sweat. "Excuse my horrible face," she blurts out, while looking nothing less than her usual radiant self. Where does this tragic insecurity come from? My Week with Marilyn doesn't attempt to answer the unanswerable, but instead shines a light on the very real woman who became lost in the giant shadow of legend. --A.T. Hurley
DVD Description
My Week With Marilyn stars an award-winning all-star cast and based on the diaries of Colin Clark, the film captures a love affair with the world’s most famous woman, Marilyn Monroe.
Academy Award® nominee Michelle Williams stars as Marilyn Monroe (Blue Valentine, Shutter Island, Brokeback Mountain) and is joined by a stellar cast including Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clark (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Good Shepherd), Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier (Thor, Wallander), Dame Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike (Quantum of Solace), Julia Ormond as Vivien Leigh (Che, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Dougray Scott as Arthur Miller (Mission Impossible II), Zoe Wanamaker as Paula Strasberg (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone), Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Dominic Cooper (Tamara Drewe, An Education, Mamma Mia), Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park), Toby Jones (Frost Nixon, Infamous), Miranda Raison (Spooks), Philip Jackson (Little Voice), Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter) and Michael Kitchen (Foyle’s War).
My Week With Marilyn is the true story of a star-struck boy who falls in love with the biggest celebrity in the world, Marilyn Monroe.
23 year-old Colin Clark was determined to break into the film business and his first job was The Prince and The Showgirl - the film that was set to be the smash hit of the year famously uniting the biggest stars of the day, Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier. On honeymoon in Britain with her new husband, Arthur Miller, Marilyn is excited about the project but quickly becomes desperate to run away from her Hollywood entourage, the pressures of work and the press who hound her. For Marilyn, Colin is a welcome antidote and he offers her everything she craves when, together, they escape the film set to get closer in an idyllic Britain.
Simon Curtis’ director credits include the BAFTA and Emmy-winning, Cranford, the International Emmy-winning, A Short Stay in Switzerland, and the Golden Globe nominated Five Days. The film is produced by Academy Award® and BAFTA winner David Parfitt (Shakespeare in Love, The Madness of King George, I Capture the Castle) and the screenplay is by Adrian Hodges (Tom and Viv, The Ruby in the Smoke and David Copperfield). The film is produced by Trademark Films and is financed by The Weinstein Company. BBC Films and Lipsync Productions also financed the picture. It was developed in association with the UK Film Council and BBC Films.
- The Untold Story of an American Icon
- Director's Commentary
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I thought this film was totally enjoyable and charming. Quite surprisingly good.
Why surprising? Because it has so many stars in it that I feared it was one of those projects where the producer had just decided to throw money at a somewhat predictable storyline. But Judy Dench, Kenneth Branagh and the others certainly live up to their considerable reputations; and the two main actors are excellent as the hero, Clark, and Marilynne. It is really a bitter-sweet fairy-tale, but one which is entirely believable. A very accurate and amusing picture is painted, of the vast gulf which existed in the late 1950s between British and American culture, two styles of acting, and two ways of life.
I think the makers of this film have understood the psychology of Marilynne Monroe very well. She had created a role which she could play to perfection, but which she did not always want to play. It is very telling that at one point she asks 'shall I be HER?' Her frailty and vulnerability shows through. You begin to understand what drove her to drink, and worse.
It is a minor point but I was also fascinated to learn for the first time that the hero, Clark, was the second son of 'Lord Clark of Civilisation' and the younger brother of Alan Clark, the diarist, politician and roguish aristocrat who swam round the moat of his castle once a year at Christmas time.
Why surprising? Because it has so many stars in it that I feared it was one of those projects where the producer had just decided to throw money at a somewhat predictable storyline. But Judy Dench, Kenneth Branagh and the others certainly live up to their considerable reputations; and the two main actors are excellent as the hero, Clark, and Marilynne. It is really a bitter-sweet fairy-tale, but one which is entirely believable. A very accurate and amusing picture is painted, of the vast gulf which existed in the late 1950s between British and American culture, two styles of acting, and two ways of life.
I think the makers of this film have understood the psychology of Marilynne Monroe very well. She had created a role which she could play to perfection, but which she did not always want to play. It is very telling that at one point she asks 'shall I be HER?' Her frailty and vulnerability shows through. You begin to understand what drove her to drink, and worse.
It is a minor point but I was also fascinated to learn for the first time that the hero, Clark, was the second son of 'Lord Clark of Civilisation' and the younger brother of Alan Clark, the diarist, politician and roguish aristocrat who swam round the moat of his castle once a year at Christmas time.
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
An interesting drama based on an assistant director's brief encounter with a Hollywood icon
1 Dec 2011
Format:DVD
It's the summer of 1956 & the world's most famous film star Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) is in Britain shooting The Prince and The Showgirl [DVD] [1957]. After constantly fluffing her lines due to her not understanding her screen character it seems everyone has lost patience with her, including Director/Actor Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). Also her new husband Arthur Miller has gone back home to the US following a row leaving Marilyn feeling alone.
Colin Clark is a 23 year old starstruck 3rd Assistant Director on his first job in the film industry. The 2 become close as Monroe trusts Clark's honesty towards her & he helps her to overcome the pressure of her work.
Instead of the usual biopic formula that serms to be popular in Hollywood these days this film simply focuses on a brief period in Monroe's life. By keeping to one story though it does give the film a chance to develop better instead of racing through events but some may find the film uninteresting as there are far more important stories of Monroe to tell & there is debate to exactly how much of Clark's diaries are really true. However I feel the film accurately shows us a side of Marilyn many people may not have seen before. For example, what is Marilyn Monroe like when she's not being Marilyn Monroe? Michelle Williams portrays her as a vulnerable film star desperate to become a great Actress but struggling to live up to expectations of her. In one scene when talking about her 3 marriages she tells Clark that men want to be with Marilyn Monroe but run away when they realise she isn't her. In the privacy of her country home she is lonely & sad, drinking & taking pills to escape her inner demons. When in public she 'becomes' Monroe, flirting & smiling with her fans & playing to the camera's.
Williams captures the essence of Monroe in both her public & private life exceedingly well. It will be no surprise if this performance gets her a third academy award nomination in 2012. She even sings too! Branagh does a good job of impersonating Olivier. There is also decent support from veteran Judi Dench & rising star Emma Watson as well as Zoe Wanamaker (TV's My Family) as Marilyn's acting coach Paula Strasberg who on more than one occasion annoys Director Olivier! Little known Eddie Redmayne takes on the task of not being overshadowed by the much more famous cast around him & is more than adequate in his starting role as Colin Clark.
Whilst at times feeling like a TV drama rather than a theatrical movie (which is no bad thing) this film is definitely worth a watch. I have a feeling it might play better on the small screen as opposed to an evening at the local cinema but is worth a look if only for the performance by oscar worthy Michelle Williams.
Colin Clark is a 23 year old starstruck 3rd Assistant Director on his first job in the film industry. The 2 become close as Monroe trusts Clark's honesty towards her & he helps her to overcome the pressure of her work.
Instead of the usual biopic formula that serms to be popular in Hollywood these days this film simply focuses on a brief period in Monroe's life. By keeping to one story though it does give the film a chance to develop better instead of racing through events but some may find the film uninteresting as there are far more important stories of Monroe to tell & there is debate to exactly how much of Clark's diaries are really true. However I feel the film accurately shows us a side of Marilyn many people may not have seen before. For example, what is Marilyn Monroe like when she's not being Marilyn Monroe? Michelle Williams portrays her as a vulnerable film star desperate to become a great Actress but struggling to live up to expectations of her. In one scene when talking about her 3 marriages she tells Clark that men want to be with Marilyn Monroe but run away when they realise she isn't her. In the privacy of her country home she is lonely & sad, drinking & taking pills to escape her inner demons. When in public she 'becomes' Monroe, flirting & smiling with her fans & playing to the camera's.
Williams captures the essence of Monroe in both her public & private life exceedingly well. It will be no surprise if this performance gets her a third academy award nomination in 2012. She even sings too! Branagh does a good job of impersonating Olivier. There is also decent support from veteran Judi Dench & rising star Emma Watson as well as Zoe Wanamaker (TV's My Family) as Marilyn's acting coach Paula Strasberg who on more than one occasion annoys Director Olivier! Little known Eddie Redmayne takes on the task of not being overshadowed by the much more famous cast around him & is more than adequate in his starting role as Colin Clark.
Whilst at times feeling like a TV drama rather than a theatrical movie (which is no bad thing) this film is definitely worth a watch. I have a feeling it might play better on the small screen as opposed to an evening at the local cinema but is worth a look if only for the performance by oscar worthy Michelle Williams.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Michelle Williams really shines with an outstanding portrayal of Marilyn Monroe showing the glitz and the fragility with equal aplomb. Kenneth Branagh is superb as the frustrated and explosive Olivier. Eddie Redmayne is charming as Colin who falls in love with Marilyn and shares his close up view of her and the circus surrounding her. I'd like to have seen a little more effort made with the bonus features for the DVD. Whilst I'm sure that everyone was happy to work with everyone else on the film we could have learned a little more about it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting
Did not get chance to see it in the cinema so bought the DVD. Not dissapointed. In fact now seen it twice. Good buy
Published 2 days ago by A. Pearson
Brilliant, great acting from Michelle Williams
I couldnt wait to see this and it did not disappoint. The acting was superb especially Michelle Williams, you actually forgot it was her at some points, she looked great!! Read more
Published 3 days ago by Elp1983
A film that makes marilyn look boring!
I read the book of this a long time ago & found it very enjoyable but as it was mainly about being on a movie set i thought it would make quite a boring movie,which it is! Read more
Published 11 days ago by sugar kane kowalczyk
The golden age of cinema
Thoroughly enjoyed this movie, which dramatises a week in the life of the production of the movie "The Prince and The Showgirl". Read more
Published 13 days ago by kiwigirl
Great Film!
Loved this movie...great performances and a great insight into the era....well worth seeing. The dvd also arrived very quickly and in perfect condition... Read more
Published 19 days ago by posie
Entertaining and touching film based on a real story
I really enjoyed this film. Good to watch, and excellent portrayal of Marilyn by Michele Williams. Good acting and a touching performance by the actor playing Colin Clarke. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Jenny
The making of The Prince and The Showgirl
I love films about hollywood, but this film about Marilyn Monroe and her time in England filming The Prince and The Showgirl with Laurence Olivier is not one of the best. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. R. W. Graham
Excellent!
really enjoyed this film as big fan of Marilyn Monroe, film was delivered promptly.
Definatley worth a veiwing, rent it if you don't want to buy it!
Definatley worth a veiwing, rent it if you don't want to buy it!
Published 1 month ago by Alison
Golden Globe win was well deserved
My Week with Marilyn - really wanted to see this when it was on around Oscar season. This film won Michelle Williams a Golden Globe and it was well deserved. Read more
Published 1 month ago by James Dwyer
Why did they bother?
Wonderful cast, beautifully shot with great attention to detail but boring and one of the few films I have watched that I just wished it would end. Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Cox
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