Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” is about to make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which means moviegoers will finally find out why the Marilyn Monroe drama is rated NC-17. The rating has generated a stir for the film, which features Ana de Armas as the Hollywood icon and is based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. De Armas recently told L’Officiel (via Uproxx) that she’s taken aback by the film’s NC-17 rating.
“I didn’t understand why that happened,” de Armas said of the film’s NC-17 rating. “I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are much more explicit with much more sexual content than ‘Blonde.’ But to tell this story it is important to show all those moments in Marilyn’s life that made her end the way she did. It needed to be explained. All the world [in the cast] I knew we had to go to uncomfortable places. I wasn’t the only one.”
Dominik has also expressed surprise at the film’s controversial rating. Dominik told Vulture in May that he thought he was playing in the R-rated sandbox when he was making the movie.
“I was surprised. Yes. I thought we had colored within the lines,” Dominik said. “But I think if you have a group of men and women in a boardroom talking about sexual behavior, maybe men are concerned about what women think. It’s just a weird moment. It’s not like depictions of happy sexuality. They’re depictions of situations that are ambiguous. And Americans are really weird when it comes to sexual behavior, don’t you think? I don’t know why They make more porn than anyone else in the world.”
The NC-17 rating reportedly created tension between Dominik and Netflix, but the filmmaker told ScreenDaily in February that he “has nothing but gratitude for Netflix,” noting that the streaming giant supported the title even if it had some problems with its content. Netflix “insisted” on bringing in “Hereditary” and “Tenet” editor Jennifer Lame to “curb the film’s excesses.” Dominik added that “Blonde is” a demanding film. If the public doesn’t like it, it’s the fucking public’s problem. It is not running for public office.”
The official synopsis for Netflix’s “Blonde” reads: “[The film] boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and her romantic entanglements, ‘Blonde’ blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening divide between the public and private selves. of her “of her.
Following its world premiere in Venice, “Blonde” will stream on Netflix beginning September 28.
