My Week With Marilyn Soundtrack Review

• 16th Jan 2012

My Week With Marilyn is story of a studio assistant that had the pleasure of escorting the actress around Britain while she filmed The Prince and the Showgirl. The film’s soundtrack is mainly scored by Conrad Pope (orchestrated Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates Of The Carribean), but incorporates Marilyn’s Theme written by Alexandre Desplat. The trials and tribulations of a complex character like Monroe, especially whilst she was shooting such a high profile film, accompanied by her well documented, complicated emotional life give Pope and Desplat plenty to play with to provide us with a fantastic soundtrack.

Pope’s music mirrors perfectly the on screen cues and manages to display a kind of stirring disquiet that heightens emotions. However, he also adds some beautiful, melodic solo pieces that fit perfectly with Desplat’s piano theme. The beautiful piano playing of Lang Lang must also be commended.

The soundtrack also contains some classic songs of the period including Autumn Leaves by Nat King Cole and Memories Are Made Of This by Dean Martin. There are, of course, a few Monroe classics in there too like When Love Goes Wrong and, as the end title song, That Old Black Magic. As a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe and her distinctive voice I was wary when I discovered Michelle Williams would be taking over vocal duties too but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised and she really holds her own.

On its own, this soundtrack is a brilliant album with a pleasant mix of classical pieces and 50s classics but combined with the film it’s a cinematic masterpiece. I couldn’t recommend it more.

Laura Johnson