Mona Lisa (1986)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writers:

Neil Jordan (screenplay) and
David Leland (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes love is a strange and wicked game.

Plot:

George, after getting out of prison, begins looking for a job, but his time in prison has reduced his stature in the criminal underworld...

Plot Keywords:

Driver | Pimp | Gangster | Prostitution | London

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 13 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Bob Hoskins	...	George
Cathy Tyson	...	Simone
Michael Caine	...	Mortwell
Robbie Coltrane	...	Thomas
Clarke Peters	...	Anderson
Kate Hardie	...	Cathy
Zoë Nathenson	...	Jeannie (as Zoe Nathenson)
Sammi Davis	...	May
Rod Bedall	...	Terry
Joe Brown	...	Dudley
Pauline Melville	...	George's Wife
Hossein Karimbeik	...	Raschid
John Darling	...	Hotel Security
Bryan Coleman	...	Gentleman in Mirror Room
Robert Dorning	...	Hotel Bedroom Man

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-18 (1986) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Germany:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

HandMade Films

Trivia:

Bob Hoskins was unaware that Michael Caine was in the film until he arrived on set for the first day of shooting. Caine himself had created the ruse while they worked together on Sweet Liberty (1986). He told Hoskins that he had been offered the part but it was too small and he was tired playing villains, even though he had already agreed to take the role.

Quotes:

Thomas: [shows George a plate of plastic spaghetti] What do you think?
George: Do you melt it down and eat it?
Thomas: No. They're ornamental.
George: Ornamental spaghetti.
Thomas: Yeah. Could go a bomb.
George: Where'd you get them?
Thomas: Contacts, George. You can't find plastic spaghetti just anywhere.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Secret Life of Brian (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU

An Odd Crime Genre Entry

Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa is a gangster film, but it's a love story, but it's not romantic, but it's sentimental. It has the violence and testosterone-driven grit and Cockney linguistics of an English gangster movie, but it's emotionally driven story and the deeply felt inner softy in the outwardly angry, husky Bob Hoskins character make it different. As a love story, it's not for one second a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl yarn. It's much more complex and goes in a much different direction. I like that about Mona Lisa. Jordan makes the film very offbeat by making it very personal, which he does every film he makes. He closes in on a character's emotional motives and inner battles.

Bob Hoskins leads the very realistic cast with his powerful performance, not quite as intense or charismatic but just as interesting and different as he was in The Long Good Friday. Michael Caine, as he always has and always will be, is the highlight of the cast though. No matter how charming he is or how much presence he has to make the audience yearn for his time on screen, he still portrays a ruthless crime boss that we hate for Hoskins's sake. His half-closed eyes and spread lips during a scene when he loses his temper make him an almost bullying figure that must get his comeuppance.

Mona Lisa, aside from its rushed and perplexingly tacked on ending, is a decent contribution to the English crime genre, coming from a very individual approach.