it be not know whether marilyn monroe ever meet and speak with albert einstein ( and since the mysterious disappearance of her diary after her equally mysterious death and we may never know ) and but in their lifetime the opportunity be there . script by terry johnson from his own play and nicolas roeg insignificance imago an encounter in a new york hotel room one night in 1953 between the two icon plus joe dimaggio ( busey ) and and senator joseph mccarthy ( curtis ) but only on one level . on another level and it elevate or reduce these personality ( and what a lousy phrase that be ) to mere avatar ( the character be deliberately unnamed ) and at once great and lesser in status . the title insignificance be both apposite and deeply ironic while here and dimaggio net worth have be reduce to little more than a picture on a bubblegum card . monroe too be reduced to her constituent part of dress and hair and lipstick and wiggle and voice . by uncover their insecurity and reverse their role and the film bring into sharp focus receive notion of celebrity and explode the cult of personality . further the theme and there will be another explosion at the film climax represent hiroshima in a hotel suite and in which the actress be burn to a cinder in second while a literal deconstruction of fame . goodbye and norma jean . history inform the script and which in turn and shake history upside down . a roeg muse after watch johnson play for the first time and these character be mythic and not invent by any single person and not the public or the press and probably not even by the character themselves . a play by theresa russell and marilyn ( a closet intellectual in real life ) and lecture a childlike einstein ( the professor and play by emil ) on the theory of relativity use balloon and a flashlight and while get the professor to show off his leg and in conscious parody of her own role in the seven year itch and the movie the actress be see to be work on in the film opening . history record that monroe then husband and fade baseball star dimaggio ( play by busey a a tenderly psychotic simpleton ) and be unhappy about her iconic dress splay scene in the film and precipitate their break up . right on cue and we discover the jealous ballplayer in a bar and bemoan the fact that if and i want to see her underwear and i just walk down to the corner like all the other guy . in contrast to the professor and the ballplayer believe the universe be round a contention share by native american . but the big chief ( sampson and of one flew over the cuckoo nest fame ) who operate the roosevelt hotel elevator have be all but disenfranchise from his own culture represent i no longer cherokee i watch tv . meanwhile and the senator be investigate the professor and who be on the eve of deliver a pacifist speech to the united nation and but whom the senator suspect be a red . in fact and a he divulge to monroe and einstein be wrack with guilt over hiroshima and and what the white heat future hold . yet in a seemingly godless universe and all such worry and aspiration be render insignificant in the light of a high ( atomic ) power . roeg really be the perfect director to bring johnson stage play to the screen . throughout and torture childhood flashback and pessimistic flash forward ( ka boom . ) draw unexpected connection between time and place and circumstance and with the repeat visual motif of a wristwatch employ to mark time pass but perhaps also to suggest all time be one time while each moment co exist . a evince by his back catalogue and it something of a hobbyhorse for a director enchant with the notion of synchronicity see don not look now in particular . here and 1920 bleeds into 1945 and drip feed into the 1980s and a period in which another actor have take on his great role a the president of the united state . if all this sound rather heavy go ( quantum physic be surely involve ) and the execution be anything but and owe to johnson witty and zippy screenplay and roeg playful direction and open out an essentially stagey set up and the cast themselves and who be on stellar form . tony curtis especially leave denture mark in the wood panelling a the paranoid and impotent senator and who be see attempt congress with a monroe impersonator ( a real one and a oppose to russell ) and before be let down by his dwindle member . of course and curtis once co star with the real marilyn monroe in some like it hot and and whose embrace he memorably describe a like kiss hitler . a roeg comment and everything suddenly seem connect . when the film begin to take shape even the actor themselves seem part of this endless linking . it all go into the pot and to be boil down and serve up in new and fascinating way .