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Monster (film)
Encyclopedia
Monster is a 2003 crime
drama film
about serial killer
Aileen Wuornos
, a former prostitute
who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men (she was not tried for a seventh murder) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wuornos was played by Charlize Theron
and her fictionalized lover, Selby Wall, was played by Christina Ricci
. The film was written and directed by Patty Jenkins
.
Theron won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress
, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
and the Screen Actors Guild Awards
for Outstanding Lead Actress.
, Aileen Wuornos
(Charlize Theron
), a female prostitute
, meets Selby Wall (based on Wuornos' real life lover Tyria Moore) (Christina Ricci
) in a gay bar
. After initial hostility and declaring that she is not gay, Aileen talks to Selby over beers. Selby takes to Aileen almost immediately, as she likes that she is very protective of her. Selby invites her to spend the night with her. They return to the house where Selby is staying (temporarily exiled by her parents following the accusation from another girl at church that Selby tried to kiss her). They later agree to meet at a rollerskating
rink and kiss for the first time. Though their passion and emotion is clear, they have nowhere to go and Selby goes home.
After being rape
d and brutalized by a client, Vincent Corey (Lee Tergesen
), Aileen murders him and decides to quit prostitution. She confesses her action to Selby, while Selby has been angry with her for not succeeding in supporting the two of them. Eventually, unable to pay the bills, Aileen tries to find legitimate work, but finds it difficult, mostly due to her lack of education. Desperate for money, she returns to her career as a prostitute. She continues to commit several acts of murder with intent to rob her victims, each killed in a more brutal way than last. She spares one man out of pity, when the man admits he has never had sex with a prostitute, but ultimately kills another man who, instead of exploiting her, offers help.
Aileen uses the money she steals from her victims to indulge herself and Selby; the two of them drink in bars and eat in fancy restaurants. However, as Selby reads in the papers about the string of murders and begins to suspect that her girlfriend may have committed them, the two have a falling out and Selby returns to Ohio
on a charter bus.
Aileen is eventually arrested at a biker bar and speaks to Selby one last time while in jail. Selby reveals some incriminating information over the telephone and Aileen the police are listening in. To protect her lover, Aileen admits she committed the murders alone. During Aileen's trial, Selby testifies against her. Aileen is later convicted and sentenced to death.
woman. For the role, Theron gained 30 pounds and wore prosthetic teeth. Critics called her performance, and her makeup, a "transformation". Film critic Roger Ebert
named it best film of the year, and wrote "What Charlize Theron achieves in Patty Jenkins' 'Monster' isn't a performance but an embodiment... [It] is one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema."
The film won Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress
, Golden Globe Award
for Best Actress in a Drama and the SAG Award. In 2009, Roger Ebert
named it one of the best films of the decade.
released a soundtrack
to the film.
All songs written by BT
.
Included with the release is a DVD featuring all fifteen original cues, and an additional nine cues that would not fit on the CD, as well as an interview with BT and Patty Jenkins, and remix files for "Ferris Wheel".
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Carol Wuornos was an American serial killer who killed seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990, claiming they raped or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute...
, a former prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men (she was not tried for a seventh murder) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wuornos was played by Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
and her fictionalized lover, Selby Wall, was played by Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
. The film was written and directed by Patty Jenkins
Patty Jenkins
Patricia Lea "Patty" Jenkins is an American film director and writer. She grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and attended the AFI Conservatory. She graduated from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1993. The most famous film she has directed to date is Monster, a docudrama about...
.
Theron won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
and the Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards
A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Plot
After moving to FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Carol Wuornos was an American serial killer who killed seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990, claiming they raped or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute...
(Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
), a female prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, meets Selby Wall (based on Wuornos' real life lover Tyria Moore) (Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
) in a gay bar
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
. After initial hostility and declaring that she is not gay, Aileen talks to Selby over beers. Selby takes to Aileen almost immediately, as she likes that she is very protective of her. Selby invites her to spend the night with her. They return to the house where Selby is staying (temporarily exiled by her parents following the accusation from another girl at church that Selby tried to kiss her). They later agree to meet at a rollerskating
Roller skating
Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
rink and kiss for the first time. Though their passion and emotion is clear, they have nowhere to go and Selby goes home.
After being rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d and brutalized by a client, Vincent Corey (Lee Tergesen
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
), Aileen murders him and decides to quit prostitution. She confesses her action to Selby, while Selby has been angry with her for not succeeding in supporting the two of them. Eventually, unable to pay the bills, Aileen tries to find legitimate work, but finds it difficult, mostly due to her lack of education. Desperate for money, she returns to her career as a prostitute. She continues to commit several acts of murder with intent to rob her victims, each killed in a more brutal way than last. She spares one man out of pity, when the man admits he has never had sex with a prostitute, but ultimately kills another man who, instead of exploiting her, offers help.
Aileen uses the money she steals from her victims to indulge herself and Selby; the two of them drink in bars and eat in fancy restaurants. However, as Selby reads in the papers about the string of murders and begins to suspect that her girlfriend may have committed them, the two have a falling out and Selby returns to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
on a charter bus.
Aileen is eventually arrested at a biker bar and speaks to Selby one last time while in jail. Selby reveals some incriminating information over the telephone and Aileen the police are listening in. To protect her lover, Aileen admits she committed the murders alone. During Aileen's trial, Selby testifies against her. Aileen is later convicted and sentenced to death.
Cast
- Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
as Aileen WuornosAileen WuornosAileen Carol Wuornos was an American serial killer who killed seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990, claiming they raped or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute... - Christina RicciChristina RicciChristina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
as Selby Wall - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as Thomas - Lee TergesenLee TergesenLee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
as Vincent Corey - Annie CorleyAnnie CorleyAnnie Corley is an American actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films and television shows since 1990. Her most notable role to date was playing Meryl Streep's daughter in the film The Bridges of Madison County....
as Donna - Pruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor VincePruitt Taylor Vince is an American award-winning character actor who has made many appearances in film and television.-Personal life:Vince was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana...
as Gene / Stuttering "John" - Marco St. JohnMarco St. JohnMarco St. John is an American actor who has starred in many films and on television. He is best known for his role as the perverted truck driver in the 1991 hit film Thelma & Louise. St. John is also well known in the horror fan community for playing Sheriff Tucker in the 1985 horror film Friday...
as Evan / Undercover "John" - Marc MacaulayMarc MacaulayMarc Macaulay is an American actor.He was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in theater. He recently appeared in the new USA Network Series Burn Notice for five episodes as Agent Harris, and as "Blaine Bauer" in the horror film Thirteen Floors.Some of his most prominent...
as Will / Daddy "John" - Scott WilsonScott Wilson (actor)Scott Wilson is an American actor.-Movies:Wilson appeared in such films as In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Gypsy Moths, The Great Gatsby, The Right Stuff, A Year of the Quiet Sun, Malone, Dead Man Walking, The Grass Harp, Junebug, The Host, Monster, Young Guns II, Pearl Harbor, and...
as Horton / Last "John" - Kane HodderKane HodderKane Warren Hodder is an American actor and stuntman. Standing , he is best known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four films from the Friday the 13th film series . He is also known for his role as Victor Crowley in Hatchet. -Career:Hodder is the only actor to portray Jason Voorhees more...
as Undercover cop
Reception
Film critics praised Monster; most gave overwhelmingly high praise to Theron's performance as an unattractive, mentally illMental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
woman. For the role, Theron gained 30 pounds and wore prosthetic teeth. Critics called her performance, and her makeup, a "transformation". Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
named it best film of the year, and wrote "What Charlize Theron achieves in Patty Jenkins' 'Monster' isn't a performance but an embodiment... [It] is one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema."
The film won Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for Best Actress in a Drama and the SAG Award. In 2009, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
named it one of the best films of the decade.
Soundtrack
In 2004, BTBT (musician)
Brian Wayne Transeau is a classically trained and Grammy-nominated American music producer, composer, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter better known by his stage name, BT. He is an artist in the electronic genre...
released a soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the film.
All songs written by BT
BT (musician)
Brian Wayne Transeau is a classically trained and Grammy-nominated American music producer, composer, audio technician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter better known by his stage name, BT. He is an artist in the electronic genre...
.
- "Childhood Montage"
- "Girls Kiss"
- "The Bus Stop"
- "Turning Tricks"
- "First Kill"
- "Job Hunt"
- "Bad Cop"
- "'Call Me Daddy' Killing"
- "I Don't Like It Rough"
- "Ferris Wheel (Love Theme)"
- "Ditch The Car"
- "Madman Speech"
- "Cop Killing"
- "News On TV"
- "Courtroom"
Included with the release is a DVD featuring all fifteen original cues, and an additional nine cues that would not fit on the CD, as well as an interview with BT and Patty Jenkins, and remix files for "Ferris Wheel".