The Misfits is showing at Art+ Cinema on Friday, September 18 at 8:45 pm, as part of Budapest Classic Film Marathon. The screening is in English with Hungarian subtitles, and will be introduced by film digitisation expert Gergő Gazdag.
“At first sight, it appears we have a light entertainment Hollywood story on our hands: after the divorce of the protagonist dancer played by Marilyn Monroe, she gets mixed up with two cowboys who, naturally, are crazy about her and persuade her that she needs a little break in the countryside. This is how they all end up moving out to a half-finished house in the desert. And things really do start out fine, but this 1961 movie by John Huston is designed to portray the bleak world of the modern western. The film can also be interpreted as predicting the emptying of the Wild West and Hollywood: the aging icons trap the last six wild horses in the desert.”
Meanwhile at KOKI Freiburg in Germany, a dual retrospective for Marilyn and novelist Ingeborg Bachmann – both born 100 years ago – continues this weekend.
“At first glance, they could hardly be more different – the great writer and the Hollywood icon. And yet, both share a life shrouded in myth, a life that continues to fascinate, idealise, and reinterpret. Their tragic end transformed them into timeless icons and projection screens for societal longings.
That they themselves partly perpetuated these images can only be understood within the context of the deeply patriarchal, male-dominated culture of the 1950s and 1960s. In this sense, Bachmann coined the famous phrase that fascism did not end in 1945, but lives on in the relationships between men and women. While her literary work—such as the novel Malina—is read as a merciless reckoning with these destructive structures, this very struggle for female self-determination is also reflected in the tragic biography of Marilyn Monroe.
Step by step, the dream factory moulded her into a perfect projection screen: the seemingly naive blonde whose blend of vulnerability, subtle humour, and overt eroticism took the world by storm. While Hollywood saw her as the embodiment of male fantasies, for Norma Jeane Baker, ‘Marilyn’ was a persona created by an actress who dreamed of playing Dostoevsky’s Grushenka. Despite the industry’s ridicule and plagued by self-doubt, Monroe fought for her artistic freedom. She left Hollywood to study at the prestigious Actors Studio and eventually founded her own production company. In doing so, she rebelled against the rigid, exploitative studio system – a system whose final demise she impressively embodied in her last completed film, THE MISFITS, in 1961.
We celebrate Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday with some of her most famous films. Accompanying introductions invite you to rediscover Marilyn Monroe’s cinematic legacy and to view her struggle against the conventions of the Hollywood studio system with fresh eyes.”
- GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES: Saturday, September 19 at 9:30 pm – “With unforgettable numbers choreographed by Jack Cole, Monroe shone in song, dance, and comedic talent. Howard Hawks’ satirical exploration of gender roles, power dynamics, and female friendship culminated in a timeless performance that would inspire countless tributes and imitations.”
- THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH: Thursday, September 24 at 7:30 pm – “Marilyn Monroe plays a crucial role, her iconic sensuality and comedic talent defining the film. As the nameless ‘The Girl,’ in the famous white dress above a subway ventilation shaft, she demonstrates her ability to both incite and ridicule the childish and foolish desires of a man who does not recognise his own ridiculousness.”
- THE MISFITS: Wednesday, September 30 at 7:00 pm – “A story as tender as it is melancholic, about friendship, love, and people searching for a way back to the light while the shadows of their past continue to haunt them … In retrospect, the film feels like a farewell to a fading Hollywood era—carried by actors who seem acutely aware of the fragility of their own brilliance.”
The Marilyn Report 