Memorable, crazy movie

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I was quite excited to watch this documentary on Marilyn Monroe and was extremely disappointed, insulted almost. It's like they didn't trust the audience to be interested in Marilyn's story so they threw in some b-list celebrities to dramatically read excerpts from her journals. This results in awkward "readings" and terrible camera work superimposed over photos of Marilyn's writing. It was distracting and annoying and really subtracted from the content. This had the potential to be great but was destroyed by the odd approach of injecting "celebrities" to make the documentary more "interesting". I definitely do not suggest this film.

Marilyn Monroe's letters (diary, memoirs, whatever you want to call them) are "performed" by various actors/actresses to us, documenting her feelings (also shown in background as a visual device to add a degree of dramatics to the actors studio performances of those who look at us and try to live the feelings of those they depict) at the time she lived. From her beginnings as an actress to her "medicinal suicide", details about Marilyn's rise to an icon, her turbulent relations with 20th Century Fox, the general consensus that she was a ditz (or a really talented actress deserved of respect) flashing her marvelous figure which was responsible for capturing the lust of men (and disgust/jealousy of women) everywhere, the emotional/psychological problems always troubling her, complicated marriages and relationships to men, gaining notoriety and popularity through her intense sexuality, becoming a media celebrity of substantial popularity, and the mental downturn that left her an actress deemed unfit to hire, "Love, Marilyn" covers a lot of ground.While I found all the actors and actresses (this approach felt a bit too pretentious for my tastes) a bit annoying, the material was fascinating (particularly when documents from directors such as Billy Wilder and George Cukor are read, Arthur Miller's interviewed from the past, Amy Greene's candidly shared details (because she knew, lived, and had intimate conversations with her)) because it shed light on how Marilyn was viewed by those that worked with her and provided insight into that enigma so emblazoned in stunning photographic beauty. I have considered myself a fan of "The Misfits" (1961) for years, but after watching this, knowing Miller wrote it, this documentary left me rather unsettled that a husband who claimed he loved his wife would populate the script with blatant disregard for her "image" and talent. I have always felt that the need to stigmatize Marilyn as all style and no substance couldn't be further from the truth…there's real truth in "Bus Stop", if one is willing to see past just the allure and beauty. My personal favorite Marilyn Monroe film is "Niagra", mentioned a few times in the film (just throwing it out there)What happened during her final film project (ironically titled "Something's Got To Give"), the pugnacious contempt from Laurence Olivier (during "The Prince and the Showgirl"), Billy Wilder and George Cukor's teeming anger at her misbehavior on set (it would be called Monroe acting a diva in the obsessive celebreality of today's pop culture), John Huston's misappropriation of studio funds (gambling them away) and how it allowed them to blame it on her (because her reputation had become so tarnished) regarding the budget on "The Misfits", Miller using Marilyn to escape the scrutiny of possible Communist ties during the McCarthy era, and the Playboy nude pictorial are all featured subjects in this documentary. I would prefer the typical narrative device/approach, with emphasis on the resources that dissect and explore this fascinating personality, this woman, this actress, this sexual icon, but "Love, Marilyn" gives actors/actresses a chance to interpret in performance how certain people felt through her and perhaps how she felt in those words on paper. What I found most fascinating was how Joe DiMaggio reacted to the hoopla behind the "blowing dress" that provided an essential lasting prominence to Marilyn's legacy and Marilyn's relationship to Lee Strasberg and his wife Paula (Paula would be her coach on set during filming to give her insight and be an inspiration). Particularly funny to me was how Jack Lemmon, in an interview about her during "Some Like it Hot", spoke of her Strasbergian method behavior during filming, as a rather loopy bit of unnecessary time wasted. "Love, Marilyn" should be of interest to Marilyn's cult and fanbase.

Rarely is the public ever allowed to see the private journals written by major movie stars or public figures who die tragically. In this film - Marilyn Monroe is exposed in ways that reveal who she truly was. A woman trying to figure out who she was, using acting as therapy. Having been abandoned as a child, she spent her life trying to receive the love and approval that she never got from her birth parents.One of the most stunning things about Marilyn is that she was poetic and far more articulate than anyone ever gave her credit for. Hearing her own words against the backdrop of the times shows her fragility in ways that have never been seen before. Told through archival and film clips, interviews with people she knew and film historians, actors provide dramatic readings of the materials written by both the actress and observers at that time. Some startling revelations also exonerate and vindicate her to a great degree. For instance, the many stories about her being late to the set and unable to perform can be explained by the fact that her acting process was different. As Actor's Studio coach Lee Strasberg said - she was one of the most sensitive and talented of any actor he ever worked with. That would explain, then, why Billy Wilder had such a time trying to give her explicitly technical direction. Not to mention, Laurence Olivier thoroughly insulted her as she out-performed him on camera.She was also dismayed by the fact that she was presented as so stupid that she wouldn't be able to tell that Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were actually men in drag and not women. That whole comic story line was dependent upon her character's stupidity. Only the joke was on her. Her first marriage to Joe DiMaggio was fraught with turmoil due to the demands of her career. They divorced, but when she was lied to and locked away in a sanitarium without her knowledge and consent - it was DiMaggio who came to her rescue. Alarmed at how she had fallen in with people he felt exploited her, he asked her to remarry him on August 1, 1961, but she was found dead August 5. In fact, he loved her so much that he had red roses delivered three times each week to her grave site for two decades. An acquaintance of Marilyn said that it was during her time with Arthur Miller that she began using barbiturates to sleep. It isn't any wonder, given that Miller told the press that they were to marry before he even asked her. It was clear that he used her. First, to get out of his House Un-American Activities Commission debacle, then to get material, writing unflattering and malicious things about her in his journals. Then he rubbed salt in the wound by putting these details in The Misfits, forcing her to make fun of herself in cruel ways. Miller also wound up schtupping a photographer he met on the set - apparently right under Marilyn's nose. No wonder it was her last film. Drugs are a funny thing. If you're fragile, you get hooked - for a lifetime.But once Marilyn was rid of Miller, she was really looking to working with Lee Strasberg in her production company to create the kinds of projects that inspired her. That, and the fact that DiMaggio's son had spoken to her the night she died, saying she seemed just fine makes it apparent that she did not commit suicide. She was on a number of medications at the time so it was probably accidental. Her legendary romps with the Kennedy boys are the stuff of sordid tabloids, but it wasn't talked about until decades later. Marilyn was known to have a journal documenting her affairs and conversations. Before she died, rumors were circulating that she planned a press conference that following Monday. If that is the case, it would seem that the Kennedy boys, who had used and cast her aside would stand a lot to lose. Especially since Bobby Kennedy is said to have been at the scene before the coroner when Marilyn's body was found. Most likely, to destroy her latest journal. Who told him about it? Seems like maybe he already knew.And what better way to debase and invalidate someone than to insinuate that they were so unhappy that they killed themselves? It would certainly feed the male egos of the men who rejected her. But she got the last laugh, because her candle has been lit for half a century. Wherever she is, she must be smiling - especially now that her true voice has finally been heard -- for the first time ever.

Since Marilyn Monroe is one of my idols, I had to watch this documentary. I knew a lot about her already since she has been such a big part of my life but I was excited to see and hear Marilyn's own voice come to life in such a unique way. The movie takes you through the ups and downs of her life with commentary from great talents and other people in her life such as Milton Greene's widow, Amy Greene, friends and other actors/directors such as Jane Russell and Billy Wilder. I found myself crying throughout the whole documentary because we all know Marilyn's life was ended tragically but yet, everyone still sees her as just a sex symbol when really, that was the farthest from her real personality. Love, Marilyn takes you inside her mind by talents of this new era and it is thoroughly enjoyable.