B. Monkey (1998)

Alan Furnace is a young man with the perfectly proper, quiet life of a London school teacher. But beneath all of that decency lies a burning desire for excitement and he just found it. ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Radford

Writers:

Andrew Davies (novel), Chloe King,

Stars:

Asia Argento, Jared Harris, Rupert Everett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Asia Argento	...	Beatrice
Jared Harris	...	Alan Furnace
Rupert Everett	...	Paul Neville
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Bruno
Julie T. Wallace	...	Mrs. Sturge
Ian Hart	...	Steve Davis
Tim Woodward	...	Frank Rice
Bryan Pringle	...	Goodchild
Clare Higgins	...	Ms. Cherry
Simone Bowkett	...	Angie
Marc Warren	...	Terence
Camilo Gallardo	...	Barman (Conrans)
Michael Carlin	...	Carlo
Paul Ireland	...	Barman (Kings Head)
Elizabeth Ash	...	Nurse (as Elisabeth Ash)

Storyline

Alan Furnace is a young man with the perfectly proper, quiet life of a London school teacher. But beneath all of that decency lies a burning desire for excitement and he just found it. She's a woman unlike any other: Unruly Irish eyes, Latin lips... her name is Beatrice, but on the streets they call her B. Monkey. She's about to take him on an outrageous, dangerous and sexy ride through the wild side of London.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | love | italian | thief | monkey | 

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Taglines:

Trouble never looked so good

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality and language, and for violence and drug content

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Italian French

Release Date:

15 July 1999 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Agria omorfia

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$17,436 (USA) (10 September 1999)

Gross:

$34,524 (USA) (17 September 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Scala Productions, Synchronistic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Caton-Jones was the original director for the film but left over creative differences.

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Quotes

Beatrice: Tomorrow is a long way off, Alan. I might have forgotten you by then.

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Connections

Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

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Soundtracks

"TWO HEARTS ENTWINE"
Courtesy of Amphonic Music Library

User Reviews

A vision of escapism

The first time I saw "B. Monkey" (at the Ghent Film Festival in 1998), I was amazed at how many people had come to see this action movie starring Asia Argento. Of course it wasn't because of Asia's charismatic performances this movie was so popular, but because it was the latest film by Michael Radford, director of "Il Postino" (together with "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulin" the longest running movie in the last ten years - well, in Antwerp anyway). From "Il Postino" to "B. Monkey" was a weird step and perhaps one of the reasons why "B. Monkey" gets so many negative reviews.

I'm well aware that this movie is a male-oriented vision of escapism, but when the result is a movie like this, one wants to take a lot for granted.

"B. Monkey" was based on a novel by Andrew Davies who has been writing since the late 60s and has penned many scripts for well-known productions such as the script for the "Bridget Jones Diary" and the lesbian BBC drama "Tipping The Velvet". He knows how to tell a story and perhaps this is why, in my opinion, "B. Monkey" is so much better than the usual drama where a delinquent girl meets an honest man and decides to better her life (genders may be changed here). Even though you can predict the big lines of the story, you're still surprised at certain plot changes.

Alan (Wayne Wang favourite Jarid Harris) and Beatrice (Asia 'daughter of Argento) couldn't be further apart: she's a bank-robbing criminal, he teaches poor kids and has a jazz show on hospital radio. Once again something that makes you realize that this movie walks a thin line between good cinema and a third-rate tv's movie of the week. Believable acting by Harris, Argento and, not to forget, Rupert Everett helps the movie to stay on the right part of that thin line.