For Genesis, Art Is at the Root of Everything
The Korean automaker recently unveiled the GV90—its first full-size all-electric flagship luxury SUV—alongside the Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed film Flesh Impact, which pays tribute to the iconic Marilyn Monroe in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday
In Korean culture, especially across the hospitality and service sector, a “Son-nim” is considered an honored and treasured guest, where both strangers and lifelong friends receive the utmost respect and treatment. At Genesis, which reached 1 million cumulative global sales faster than any other luxury automotive brand in history, this concept goes beyond customer relationships, bleeding into design, craftsmanship, and a philosophy that they call “Athletic Elegance.”
There is an art to establishing this type of relationship—one that chief marketing officer Amy Marentic shared stems from a “yes before no” mentality and the ability to figure out what a client needs before they even know they need it. Enter the Genesis EV90 Neolun. The automaker’s first full-size all-electric flagship luxury SUV features many of those consumer-first attributes, including B-pillar coach doors for wider entry, swiveling front seats that rotate 180 degrees when the vehicle is stopped so passengers can sit face-to-face, and an immersive Bang & Olufsen 3D surround sound system.
But how to tell consumers what they need before they ask for it is another challenge entirely, one that Marentic and her team leaned on the arts to solve. To announce the arrival of such a monumental SUV, the Genesis team was inspired by another icon famous for grand entrances: Marilyn Monroe. The cultural icon also shares a special connection with Genesis’s home country, as Korea is where she first found her star power following a visit with troops. And in a moment of kismet, the opportunity presented itself as a way to honor the Hollywood legend on what would have been her 100th birthday.
The result is a 22-minute short film, Flesh Impact, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was so inspired by the project that she wrote the script in one weekend. Starring Dakota Johnson as a young Monroe and Ellen Burstyn as a present-day version, Gyllenhaal used the film as a way to tell the late actress’s story from a female perspective and concentrated on the moments between the tabloid headlines and infamous Hollywood roles.
The Genesis-commissioned film debuted at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where Burstyn received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. It then premiered at the 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), where Gyllenhaal, who had never before been to South Korea, spoke about the freedom Genesis leadership gave her to tell Monroe’s story. “I don’t think that when Genesis came to me and asked for a film about Marilyn Monroe to celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday, they imagined she would actually be 100 years old in the movie,” she said. “I thought, ‘OK, I have this idea, you’re never going to go for it, but I’ll pitch it.’ And they said, ‘OK, let’s see what happens with this idea.’”
Marentic said that for Genesis, a brand that has built a reputation for giving more than it takes and continues to move forward while honoring the past, the film was a gift they could give to the late star who was always striving to be and do more than what Hollywood’s power players told her she could. It’s fitting then that leading Burstyn’s Monroe into her grand entrance—where she commands attention and is given a voice to tell her story in the way that she wants to—is the EV90.
The film is also a natural extension for the brand, which has established the Genesis Inspiration Foundation and has longstanding ties to LACMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and more. The automaker even went further in its tribute to Monroe over the summer, hosting “Manifesting Marilyn: The Making of an Icon” at Genesis House in Manhattan. Now that the exhibit has closed, a new immersive installation titled “Starscape,” which is inspired by the Korean winter solstice, will soon transform the space.
“This film is a gift to Marilyn,” said Marentic. “A serious acting role—which is what she always wanted.”