Blonde on Netflix: this rape scene deeply marked Ana de Armas


Blonde, the fake biopic about Marilyn Monroe, is dividing viewers due to many shocking scenes. One of them depicts a rape for which Ana de Armas had to prepare herself emotionally. Warning, spoilers.

Warning, spoilers. It is advisable to have seen Blonde before continuing to read this article.

Available since September 28 on Netflix, Blonde is a daring and decried re-reading of the life of Marilyn Monroe. This faux biopic by Andrew Dominik, adapted from the bestseller of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, traces the tumultuous childhood, the meteoric rise and the complex love stories of Norma Jeane who later became Marilyn Monroe, one of the Hollywood’s most timeless icons.

Actress Ana de Armas has the daunting task of embodying the actress who embodies the Hollywood star in this feature film, between reality and fiction, which explores the major gap between her public persona and the person she was in. intimacy.

A shocking and harrowing rape scene for Ana de Armas

For this film, the Cuban actress had to shoot many trying scenes where her character suffered domestic violence, sexual assault and rape. One of the sequences deeply shocked the public: the one where Marilyn Monroe visits the President of the United States, never named, even if we know that it is John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

After being escorted by security agents, Marilyn finds the President (played by Caspar Phillipson) sprawled on her bed. He says he had a hard day and asks her to masturbate him. Plaguing about the way the actress masturbates him, he violently pushes her to perform oral sex on him, against his will. The camera is framed on Marilyn’s face and on the back and forth movements she performs under duress.

netflix

This particularly shocking rape scene traumatized and disgusted many viewers, who wondered about the relevance of such a scene in the film. Ana de Armas answers this question in a river interview for variety and explains that it was necessary to present Marilyn Monroe’s sexual experiences and traumas in such a stark way:

“We tell her story, from her point of view. I make people feel what she felt. When we had to shoot these kinds of scenes, like the one with Kennedy, it was difficult for everyone. But at the same time time, I knew I had to go there to find out the truth.”

The actress talks about the emotional charge of these sequences that she worked on with director Andrew Dominik: “He put me in a very, very specific emotional state. Imagine for a second that you can’t express your anger. What that does to you is definitely not healthy.”

Very tested by the shooting, Ana de Armas did everything to put a distance between her and her character outside of the takes: “When I do my hair and makeup, it’s just me, it’s Ana”. But her mind was turned upside down and the actress describes her state on set as “deeply sad”: “I felt heavy. I felt powerless that I couldn’t change what was happening. I just had to go through a story that I knew the ending for sure.”


Screenshot / Netflix

This streak with the President and other violent scenes were the reason Blonde was put on a restriction. It is the first Netflix film to be banned for those under 17 in the United States (the equivalent of a ban on those under 18 in France).

In CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend PodcastAndrew Dominik explains that he did not imagine how much this scene could mark and thinks that it surely participated in the classification of Blonde:

“Probably. I mean, it’s hard to say, because [le comité de restriction] is a safe. They only give you clues as to what might be problematic, you know? So, yes, maybe. I think it has a lot to do with who’s in[thesceneButontheotherhandpeopleseemtobeupsetbythemovieoraffectedbythemovieinsomewaySomaybeit’smoreeffectivethanIthought”[lascèneMaisd’unautrecôtélesgenssemblentêtrebouleversésparlefilmoutouchésparlefilmd’unemanièreoud’uneautreAlorsc’estpeut-êtreplusefficacequejenelepensais”

Ever since Blonde went live on Netflix, reactions from viewers have quickly emerged. Andrew Dominik’s feature film does not leave anyone indifferent and divides. If some people shout at the “masterpiece” and the “best film of the year”, others think that it is a “complicated” and “testing” film, even “hell”.

SPOTLIGHT – Our “3 Films” podcast on Marilyn Monroe:

Blonde is available on Netflix.



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