Monster (5 Stars)

When I first put together my top 100 film list I put "Monster" in 83rd place. Since then I've moved it up to 76th place, but after seeing it again today I'm determined to give it a higher place. How high? I don't know yet.

What disturbs me most about Aileen Wuornos, as played by Charlize Theron in the role of her life, is the fact that she never regretted what she did. She shot seven men, which she didn't deny, but she claimed that all seven were in self-defence. When the judge sentenced her to death, she screamed at him that the sentence was unfair. She insisted unto the end of her life that all seven men wanted to rape her. All seven? There were no witnesses, but it seems very infeasible that seven men should have tried to rape her in less than 12 months. She was justifying her murders to clear her conscience, and I'm sure she believed her own lies. That's a characteristic of lying: the more often you tell the same lie, the more likely you are to believe it yourself. Instead of remembering what happened, you remember what you said about it.

Maybe Aileen was mentally ill. I've read about her, and it's a distinct possibility. In the film she seems sane, though erratic. The writer/director Patty Jenkins wanted to portray her neutrally, so that everyone can make up his own mind. There are only two possibilities: either she was an evil person (a monster) or a sick person. I prefer to believe she was sick. I'm biased in her favour, but I have to be honest and admit that I just don't know.

Whatever Aileen Wuornos was, it's a powerful film, one of the best I've ever seen.

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