B. Monkey (1998)

A young woman attempts to end her criminal career. But she needs love to make it.

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:

blow job | female frontal nudity | female nudity | sexiness | sexy woman | 

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Taglines:

"A Wild Rollercoaster Ride Of Thrills!"

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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:

Prince Alfred bar, Formosa Street, Maida Vale, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,436, 12 September 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$34,524, 19 September 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax,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

One of the reasons why Michael Caton-Jones quit the project was because Miramax head, Harvey Weinstein, nixed his proposal of casting Sophie Okonedo in the lead suggesting she wasn't "fuckable".

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Quotes

Alan Furnace: You know, this doesn't actually look like me. Underneath there's a...
Beatrice: ...a prince?
Alan Furnace: No, just a good-looking frog.

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Connections

Referenced in When Brendan Met Trudy (2000)

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Soundtracks

THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME
Composed by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Performed by Peggy Lee
Used by kind permission of Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.
Licensed courtesy of Blue Note, a division of Capitol Records Inc.

User Reviews

Argento gives strong performance in so-so film

This was Michael Radford's first film since "Il Postino" and it's definitely a letdown because Radford is a terrific director. Story is about a woman named B. Monkey (Asia Argento) who moonlights as an armed robber and she works with a couple of drug addicts named Bruno (Jonathan Rhys-Myers) and their father figure Paul (Rupert Everett) and a local gangster named Frank (Tim Woodward) is the one who sets up the scores. One night Bea meets Alan (Jared Harris) who is a school teacher and he asks her out on a date. She accepts and soon she falls in love with him and wants to leave her sordid past behind. Alan gets another teaching job in the country and Bea goes with him and they start to live the quiet life but one day Bea calls Paul and he traces the call back and finds out where she lives. Paul is in serious trouble with Frank and they follow him to where Bea is. One of the main problems with the story is how much Alan puts up with to be with Bea. Her friends are criminals, she was responsible for him losing his job and she displays a pretty bad temper. Maybe it's time to move on, buddy! But the strong point for the film is Argento's performance. She's a very brave actress and it appears that she would do just about anything on camera. There are several scenes in this film that require total nudity and Argento seems very comfortable doing this. Argento is Italian and grew up in Europe and European actress's seem to have a different attitude towards nudity in films. I first noticed Radford's direction in the highly underrated "1984" and also "Dancing at the Blue Iguana". Both of these films along with "Il Postino" are superbly directed but his talent wasn't evident in this film. It's adequately made but besides Argento this was a pretty tepid viewing experience. I had heard rumors that it was heavily edited but I'm not sure thats the problem. The whole film feels flat and labored and really has nothing special to offer. Argento does make it watchable though.