“Monster”, the film for which Charlize Theron recently won the Best Actress Oscar, is based on the true story of serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in 2002 for the murders of seven men in the state of Florida. Part road movie, part crime thriller and part biopic, the movie explores the events leading up to Aileen’s conviction and subsequent execution.
In the film, Theron plays Aileen, a hitch-hiking prostitute. Aileen had a traumatic childhood, raped by a family friend at a very young age, a victim of incest at the hands of her brother and grandfather, and sleeping around with local boys. She became pregnant in her early teens, with no idea who the father of her baby was and gave the baby away for adoption. Disowned by her family, she turned to prostitution at the age of thirteen and since then has lived from one encounter to another, sleeping rough, spending all her money in bars and finding food where she can. Aileen is teetering on the brink of suicide when she meets Selby (played by Christina Ricci) in a gay bar. Selby is a teenage girl, struggling to come to terms with her sexuality after she has been disowned by her family and sent away to stay with friends, following a sexual encounter with a girl in her hometown. At first, Aileen is wary of Selby, but eventually the two get talking and arrange to meet later in the week before Selby returns home. Soon, the two embark upon a passionate affair.
Then, Aileen gets brutally attacked and raped by a “John” (one of her customers). Traumatised by the experience, which brings back memories of her traumatic childhood, she ends up shooting him in self-defence. She keeps the attack to herself and runs away with Selby, taking up residence in a motel room. Aileen vows to
give up prostitution and tries to find a job, but her lack of experience gets her turned away from everywhere she goes, and as the money runs out, an argument with Selby drives her back to prostitution.
But something has changed and Aileen can no longer bring herself to sleep with her Johns. Armed with the gun she stole from the man she murdered, she embarks upon a killing spree, picking up men with the sole intention of killing them, stealing their cars and money in order to finance Selby’s dreams of an idyllic lifestyle.
It is only a matter of time before the police catch up with Aileen, despite the attempts of her friend, caretaker Jim (played by Bruce Dern) to warn her. The remainder of the film focuses on Aileen’s confession, which absolves Selby of any blame (Selby only ever knew about the first murder) and Selby’s shocking betrayal of her lover as she decides to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution.
There is no doubt that Theron’s performance in this film was worthy of an Oscar and for me her amazing transformation from glamourous Hollywood star into hard-faced, dirty, violent, swaggering prostitute was the absolute highlight of the film. Indeed, she is reported to have gained 30 lbs for her role. She is ably supported by Ricci as the wide-eyed, seemingly innocent Selby, who despite her youth and relative lack of worldliness compared to Aileen is most certainly the predator at the beginning of their relationship.
The film did, however, leave me with many unanswered questions, as it did not seem to explore fully enough the real reasons for Aileen’s sudden conversion into a cold blooded serial killer, following her shocked reaction when she kills her first victim in self-defence. I decided to dig deeper, and read up on the internet about the real story of Aileen Wuornos. What I found was the story of a severely disturbed woman, plagued by extreme mental illness, leading to almost psychopathic aggression, with doubts being cast on whether she had in fact ever been abused as a child. The real Aileen Wuornos aroused very little sympathy in my mind, whereas the on screen portrayal made her out to be a much more sympathetic character, particularly through its focus on the often tender relationship she shared with Selby, in which she took on the role of protector and provider for the younger woman. Her mental illness – or at least the extent to which it controlled her actions – was not always evident. Knowing, as I do now, the real story, it is easy to see why this film came under fire from the relatives of Aileen’s victims, who felt that she had been portrayed in a far too sympathetic light. Indeed, in many places the film was very moving and I felt a lot of sympathy for both Aileen and Selby at times. Knowing, as I now do, more about the real story, I am not so sure whether this sympathy was well-placed.
I would also have liked more exploration of the relationship between Selby and Aileen and what ultimately led Selby to betray Aileen in the way that she did. In the film, the pair seem equally dependent on each other, at least at the beginning of their relationship, but in reality it seems that Aileen was very controlling towards Selby (or Tyria, as her real-life lover was called).
It seemed, to me, that the film was unsure of its focus, switching from exploration of the two women’s relationship to the reasons for the murders, but never fully getting to the bottom of either. Indeed, it is implied at the beginning of the movie, by Aileen’s voice over, that meeting Selby was the catalyst for the events that followed, and indeed it may have been, but this is never clearly explained either.
Putting aside the accuracy or otherwise of the translation of the story onto the screen, it is nevertheless a good film with some truly excellent scenes. Aileen’s rape and the subsequent murder of the perpetrator is shockingly graphic and violent. The lesbian relationship between Aileen and Selby is portrayed less graphically, and anyone looking for titillation of this kind may well be disappointed, but we are left in no doubt of the passion they shared, at least in the early stages of their relationship. A particularly powerful scene is one where, overcome by their suddenly realised passion, the pair share their first kiss whilst skating together at a local rink where Selby hangs out. The scene is accompanied by the song “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey – one of my favourite songs, which captures the power of the moment perfectly. We are in no doubt that for Aileen and Selby, at that moment, no one else exists in their worlds and it is one of the most romantic, erotically charged scenes I have seen in any film, regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters.
The direction is excellent, capturing perfectly the gritty, depressing world of motel rooms, backseats of cars and sleazy bars that Aileen inhabits. Even a trip to “Fun Land”, an amusement park, is portrayed in such a way that the drab, dismal feeling of the film comes across well. Incidentally, the title of the movie comes not from a comment upon Aileen herself, but from the name she gave to a huge ferris wheel that she rode on when she was a child, similar to one that we see at Fun Land.
On the whole I would recommend “Monster”, but I would recommend that you watch it with an open mind, and think of it as being only loosely based, or perhaps inspired by, true life events, rather than a faithful reproduction of the truth. If nothing else, it is worth watching for Charlize Theron’s truly amazing performance, which I will remember for a long time, and which earns this film four stars in my eyes, rather than the three I would otherwise have awarded.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 2000 - Drama - Director: Giuseppe Tornatore - Original Language: Italian - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
I watched this film last night and found it very harrowing. I can understand why she killed her first victim as she acted out of fear of him and self-defence, but her last victim, there was no excuse for.
kirstymack80 04.06.2004 22:31
I missed the documentary but I've read a book about Wuornos so I had to see the film as soon as it came out! Agree with what you said, Theron's transformation is amazing. Nicely constructed review! KirstyM
eve6kicksass 03.06.2004 17:31
Definately an "E" review by me...anaylzed perfectly, with lots of great detai. This film just came out on DVD today, so I've been meaning to rent it, though I have to get this essay done on James Joyce's "Ulysses" done this week.....Superb op sweetie...Take care!!! Chris xxx
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