‘Blonde’
“You could say that Laura Palmer is Marilyn Monroe, and that Mulholland Drive is about Marilyn Monroe, too. Everything is about Marilyn Monroe.” That’s a quote from an interview that David Lynch gave to Vanity Fair back in 2017, a quote which came roaring back into my mind after watching Andrew Dominik’s Blonde. You might even say that Dominik brings that concept full-circle; his version of Marilyn Monroe IS Laura Palmer, especially during the devastating final 30 minutes of Blonde, in which Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ score pays direct homage* to Angelo Badalamenti’s towering, haunting “Laura Palmer’s Theme” from Twin Peaks. Dominik’s film is, at times, difficult to stomach, but then again, so is Lynch’s Fire Walk With Me. That doesn’t make either any less brilliant.
*I say “pays direct homage” instead of “rips-off,” but YMMV, especially after listening to “Nembutal” and “Laura Palmer’s Theme” back-to-back.