Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Claudio Carvalho
After serving seven years in prison, the smalltime criminal George (Bob Hoskins) is released. He seeks out his daughter but his ex-wife does not allow him to talk to her. His friend Thomas (Robbie Coltrane) meets George and gives his Jaguar that he kept for him. George is impressed with the changing in the neighborhood while Thomas explains the new reality. George is hired by his former boss Mortwell (Michael Caine) to work as the driver and bodyguard of the high-class call girl Simone (Cathy Tyson). In the beginning, George is misfit for the position and does not get along with Simone; but gradually he befriends and falls in unrequited love with her. Simone looks for someone on the streets of the King's Cross district (red light district of London in the 80's) and soon she asks George to help her to find the prostitute Cathy (Kate Hardie). George is involved with the underworld of prostitution and is chased by the dangerous pimp Anderson (Clarke Peters). When he finds Cathy, he discovers the connection of Simone to her."Mona Lisa" is a melancholic love story in an environment of low-lives and losers in the underworld of London. The beginning of this movie is a drama entwined with romance and ends a thriller. The good-hearted George is a needy small-time criminal, naive in many moments that falls in love with the prostitute Simone. Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson and Michael Caine have magnificent performances. Nat King Cole´s song gives a touch of class to his great film. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Mona Lisa"Note: On 17 July 2018 I saw this film again.
Degree7
After seeing Hoskins in "The Long Good Friday", I was eager to catch another one of his highly celebrated performances. Filling in a similar role as an ex-con looking for work in 1980s London, I found his relationship with a call-girl to be highly effective in the character's exploration of a world he is simultaneously out of touch, but all too familiar with. It is a story that moves along leisurely, as he is soon employed by his employer's worker to find a vulnerable young girl on the streets, and it is here that the film offers a disparaging outlook on urban prostitution, through the annals of both high and low society. Hoskin's character becomes embroiled in an emotional investment beyond his control, and like any Noir protagonist, is very soon out of his league and receiving the short end of the stick.The ending revelation is effective, but slightly underwhelming when one realizes that his journey was doomed from the beginning, but this kind of set up is to be expected from these sorts of tales. The character development and progression between lead actor and actress is simple, but highly effective.The cinematography comes across as drab sometimes, but there are many beautiful moments in this film with some detailed choreography and impressive lighting of seedy, smoke filled interiors as Hoskins navigates the Londonian labyrinths. The ending does feel slightly rushed, but there are so many great moments, and the film has a lot of untold backstory that gives its characters a lot of depth and very realistic insight into human longing. This is a great example of effective exposition that is relayed naturally and not a distraction or disservice to the film. A few choppy moments, but overall 'Mona Lisa' is more than the sum of its parts, and is an entertaining and atmospheric indie flick from Neil Jordan.
Lisa Muñoz
I was completely blown away and amazed at how brilliant this film is, and how underrated it's become since it came out. The title is based on the Nat King Cole song "Mona Lisa", which he sings about the famous Da Vinci painting and the mystery that surrounds it - and film revokes around that same painful mystery of a what a certain woman wants, and what she has experienced.The film opens with that song, with the male lead character, George walking to his daughter's house after his release from prison. Looking for work as a chauffeur for his gangster boss, he is appointed to a high class, sophisticated black prostitute, Simone, to drive her around. She is annoyed at first by his appearance, but slowly begins to trust him, fitting him into new clothes. But as soon as she has faith in him, she eventually drags him in to a dangerous pursuit and rescue of a young girl, forced into prostitution. Led into the underworld of porn, sleaze, clubs and street mayhem, George, who unfortunately falls for Simone, questions whether his job is worth it or not and will he or Simone could survive it. One of the many themes of this movie is the unrequited love of Simone, a beautiful hooker who cannot be possessed, that George develops, and the difficult subject of underage forced prostitution and sadism. Bob Hoskins shines at the top of his acting game as George, showing both fierceness as well as sensitivity to the role, making it a perfect match and a well deserved Oscar nominated portrayal. Cathy Tyson was also perfect as the Mona Lisa - like Simone, and Michael Caine appears as the ruthless king pin Mortwell.Adding to the mix is the great music, the theme song by Genesis and the dark atmospheric look of London's night spots. All this made me want to see the film again and again, thinking about something different that I saw in it each time. In my opinion, the key to a good movie is wanting to see it again right after it finishes. It's just too bad Hoskins didn't win the Oscar and Cathy Tyson disappeared without a trace over the years. Although it's sometimes bleak, it's a gorgeous piece of art, just like the painting.
screenman
'Mona Lisa' is a 14-year old movie that could have been released yesterday. It is a wonderfully vivid and inevitably sordid insight into the sex industry. Although based in London, it could be any major city.Bob Hoskins heads a cast that never put a foot wrong. He's a stooge, a schmoll, a muggins. Fresh out of jail after a 7-year stretch during which time he has done the honourable thing and kept schtum, he is naturally seeking some payback. But his paymaster, played by a wonderfully sleazy Micheal Caine, is giving nothing. Indeed, he has all but forgotten him. In an oleaginous exchange, Hoskins' simple character is talked into settling for no more compensation than a driving job. And even then he has to use his own car. It's a good old-fashioned villains' Jaguar 3.4 saloon. He is driving a high-end whore, played by Cathy Tyson. Hers are a wealthy clientele, to which she has worked her ticket from the street. Hoskins' character is a combination of tough, worldly, working-class, and at the same time untutored, in good taste, or the complex subtleties of human nature. His best mate is a strange character played by Robbie Coltrane. He's a sort of Del-Boy, constantly looking for the latest big thing, but apparently getting nowhere. We meet him living in a trailer. He provides a cushion of levity which I found implausible and out of kilter with the brutal frankness of the other issues. There are plenty of other characters who also earn their cameo pay-cheques. But this is Hoskins' movie. His realisation of a simple east-end crook struggling to grasp the larger issues of the plot is an absolute tour-de-force. He is at once tough and vulnerable, ruthless and humane, smart and simple. And the shifting shades of personality and behaviour are absolutely seamless. He's a confessed murderer, but you love him even so. He wouldn't 'top' anyone who didn't deserve it.There's so much to enjoy and admire in this movie that I could write all night, but enough. It's flawed. Yet the story, the shocks, the camera-work, and the top-notch acting set in the insidious stratum of human vice will stay with you long after.Very highly recommended.
