A Year with Marilyn Monroe: At odds with life

At the end of our author's review 2026 Year with Marilyn Monroe, we will show one of the most dramatically-outstanding films with her participation! Film critic Dorota Jędrzejewska-Szpak will give a lecture before the screening on 3 December.

Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe) arrives in Reno for a quick divorce. Soon he meets new friends, among whom are aging cowboy Gay (Clark Gable) and his friend Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift). They take her to a rodeo and then to the desert to catch wild mustangs.

The last completed film starring Marilyn Monroe. The actress shows here her dramatic talent, previously underestimated by producers and viewers. The script of the film was written especially for her by her husband - the outstanding playwright Arthur Miller. In the course of production, their marriage began to fall apart.

Dorota Jędrzejewska-Szpak: Editor of the magazine “Ekrany”, film critic, comparator, copywriter. Scholarship holder of the National Academy of Sciences for 2024. Particularly interested in feminist themes in genre cinema, screen eroticism and the culture of retromania. She writes about it on the From My Mouth fanpage and talks about it on the Women and Genres podcast.

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We invite you to the second part of the year-long retrospective — the flagship project of the Kosmos Cinema organized in 2026 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the American star. The five titles selected from 1955-1961, which we will show from August to December, are examples of Marilyn Monroe's struggles on the road to mature acting and star status. Each of the screenings will be preceded by a lecture by a specialist in the history of cinema, fashion and design, the evolution of customs, American pop culture or feminism in mass culture. Looking at the phenomenon of Marilyn Monroe from various perspectives, verified by modern research, we will try to deconstruct the fixed stereotypical image of the film “goddess of sex”, giving Norma Jeane Mortenson its rightful place in the history of world cinema and culture.

22 August 2026 | Saturday | 17.00

Half Joked, Half Serious (Some Like It Hot)

dir. Billy Wilder | USA | 1959 | 122 min | comedy

lecture: Katarzyna Czajka-Kominiarczuk (Pop Cultural Animal)

After the session, we invite you to the promotion of the book “Marilyn Monroe. All the faces of the goddess” by our speaker Katarzyna Tchaiki-Kominiarchuk.

The co-organizer of the show is Mando Publishing House, the book will be available for purchase at the cinema box office.

17 September 2026 | Thursday | 18.00

The Straw Widower (The Seven Year Itch)

dir. Billy Wilder | USA | 1955 | 104 min | comedy

screening as part of the FASHION FILM CLUB

lecture: Ania Gołkowska (fashion historian)

October 15, 2026 | Thursday | 6.30 PM

Bus Stop

dir. Joshua Logan | USA | 1956 | 94 min | comedy/drama/romance

lecture: Sara Nowicka (cultural scientist)

November 12, 2026 | Thursday | 6:00 PM

The Prince and the Showgirl

dir. Laurence Olivier | USA, United Kingdom | 1957 | 115 min | comedy

talk: Anouk Herman (writer)

December 3, 2026 | Thursday | 6:00 PM

Conflicts with Life (The Misfits)

dir. John Huston | USA | 1961 | 125 min | drama

lecture: Dorota Jędrzejewska-Szpak (film critic)