My Week with Marilyn

Simon Curtis built his first feature from two Colin Clark diaries, The Prince, The Showgirl, and Me (1995) and My Week with Marilyn (2000). Clark was a third assistant director on that shoot, so the vantage point sits low. Pinewood was the base, and Curtis used the stage where Monroe shot that 1956 film; Michelle Williams got the dressing room Monroe had used then. Williams was the only actress the producers met; she committed 2 years early and read about Monroe for 6 months. Hair and make up designer Jenny Shircore refused facial prosthetics, keeping three or four points: brows, shading, lip shape. Jill Taylor built the white dress with no double, so Williams wore it for 11 days. At the 69th Golden Globes Williams won lead actress, musical or comedy. At the Oscars she was up for actress, Kenneth Branagh for supporting actor; neither won. BAFTA gave it 7 nominations: leading actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, costume, make up and hair, outstanding British film, and rising star for Eddie Redmayne, who plays Clark. It won none. A good fit if you accept Monroe seen from inside the stage door across a few weeks of one production, not summed up. Not for a balanced life story; it speaks through the diary of a runner who had just arrived.