“The mystery of Marilyn Monroe: the unreleased films”: the documentary that runs through the last weeks of the Hollywood star

“How do you write a life story? Truths rarely circulate. Lies usually do it.” This is the beginning of the trailer for the documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, which will be available on Netflix from April 27. The voice heard is that of the same actress, who died on August 4, 1962 from unclear causes.

Although his death was classified as suicide due to the use of sleeping pills, the cause of his death was reopened in 1982, and this documentary takes that investigation as a starting point at the 60th anniversary of his death. It also collects certain testimonies of the people who were with the Hollywood diva in her last hours.

The documentary is directed by Emma Cooper (also creator of the docuseries The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, about the English girl who disappeared from the hotel room where she was sleeping with her brothers on Praia da Luz, a beach in Portugal during a family holiday in 2007, which is also available in Netflix) and produced by Chris Smith (Jim & Andy, the documentary that chronicles Jim Carrey's transformation into comedian Andy Kaufman).

The mystery of Marilyn Monroe: the unreleased tapes, manages to provide new testimonies and also telephone conversations that were recorded through the actress' tapped phones. Was suicide really the cause of the death of the actress of One Eve and Two Adanes, or was it a crime perpetrated from the highest echelons of power? This is the question that this documentary tries to answer and it does so through the reconstruction of Monroe's last days alive. Unpublished conversations with director John Huston and other great Hollywood stars enrich this research that can be seen in a few days on the platform.

The true story of Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn's real name, was always a recurring theme in Hollywood history. Netflix, in addition to presenting this documentary, is planning a film in biopic format about the actress, starring the Cuban-Spanish performer, Ana de Armas (Between Navajas y Secretos, No Time to Die). The film is called Blonde, and it is based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates published in 2000.

Directed by Andrew Dominik (The Murder of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007), this film is scheduled to be released after the documentary. Blonde was first intended for the last Oscar winner, Jessica Chastain (Tammy Faye's Eyes) and then for Australian actress Naomi Watts (The Call, The Impossible), who would bring Monroe to life. But it was finally chosen for De Armas, who will be accompanied in the cast by Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Julianne Nicholson.

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