A detail of the Netflix Marilyn Monroe Movie Trailer Blond what may surprise some viewers is the NC-17 rating at the end. The film is clearly artfully shot and appears to have an intense and dramatic tone, but in other respects it could pass for a traditional and tragic celebrity life story. What has earned it the MPA’s strictest adults-only rating, the first for any Netflix movie?
Blond is written and directed by Andrew Dominik, an Australian filmmaker made famous by the 2000 crime thriller Helicopter and the elegiac western starring Brad Pitt, The murder of Jesse James by the cowardly Robert Ford. The uncompromising Dominik is much admired by colleagues like David Fincher, who hired him to direct several episodes of mind hunter. But Dominik hasn’t had a huge commercial success yet, and has struggled at times to make movies on his terms.
Blond is not a direct biography of Monroe, but rather a highly fictionalized version of her story, based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates. Dominik has been trying to do it since 2010. The book features some shocking and graphic scenes, and it seems that Dominik has insisted that these be included in her movie.
Blondstarring Cuban actress Ana de Armas (knives out, no time to die) like Monroe, was shot in 2019. According to reportsIt was originally scheduled for release in 2021 before Netflix pushed it back to 2022. No reason was given for the delay, but rumors circulated that Netflix had objected to some of the film’s more extreme content and was considering re-editing it to avoid the NC-17 rating.
These rumors were finally confirmed, more or less, by an interview Dominik gave to Screen Daily in February 2022.
Dominik laughed at the idea that the film featured a gory scene depicting menstrual cunnilingus as “funny” and untrue. but if i confirm Blond features a rape scene taken from Oates’s book. This is probably the scene behind the NC-17 rating, which the MPA attributes to “some sexual content.”
Dominik said that Netflix had “insisted” on bringing in a new editor, Jennifer Lame (marriage story, Beginning), βto curb the excesses of the filmβ. But based on the rating, it looks like Netflix has capitulated and Dominik has an undiluted version of the movie. He acknowledged that Netflix had issues with the film’s content, but praised the streamer for supporting its release anyway. βIt’s much easier to support things when you like them. It’s much harder when you don’t. I have nothing but gratitude for Netflix,β he said.
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Image: Netflix
NC-17 movie ratings are incredibly rare. Only a handful of movies in the past decade have earned the rating, according to the MPA Rating and Classification Administration website. Some movies, including recent releases like Spiral, the king’s manY midsummerthey were apparently initially affected by the rating, but were re-edited and resubmitted to the MPA to secure a more theatrical-friendly R rating.
An NC-17 rating is far less damaging to Netflix than it is to a traditional movie studio. Although such a rating severely restricts a film’s distribution and marketing in theaters, it will have little impact on the streaming platform, where the home page is Netflix’s main marketing tool. In the past, it hasn’t been difficult to find extreme content on Netflix, such as the explicit and unrated erotic drama Gaspar NoΓ©. Love, what was it great success there. However, the study appears to have been quite sensitive to Blond‘s, perhaps considering the film’s close alignment with its branding as a Netflix original.
Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik was characterized by no regrets. He said the film “wouldn’t have been made” if it hadn’t been for #MeToo, “because no one was interested in that kind of shit: what it’s like to be an unloved girl, or what it’s like to go through the Hollywood meat grinder.” an apparent justification for his unflinching portrayal of Monroe being abused, and while he called the NC-17 rating “a bunch of bullshit,” Dominik considered it a badge of the film’s lack of commitment.
“It’s a demanding movie,” he said. βIf the public doesn’t like it, it’s the fucking public’s problem. It is not running for public office. It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, that’s pretty much what you want, right? I want to go see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”