The Monkey's Mask (2000)

A lesbian private detective dives head first into murder, manipulation and the consuming power of sex.

Director:

Samantha Lang

Writers:

Anne Kennedy, Dorothy Porter (novel)

Stars:

Susie Porter, Kelly McGillis, Abbie Cornish

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Susie Porter	...	Jill Fitzpatrick
Abbie Cornish	...	Mickey Norris
Brendan Cowell	...	Hayden
Jim Holt	...	Bill McDonald
Bojana Novakovic	...	Tianna
Jean-Pierre Mignon	...	Tony Brach
Caroline Gillmer	...	Barbara Brach
John Noble	...	Mr. Norris
Linden Wilkinson	...	Mrs. Norris
Kelly McGillis	...	Professor Diana Maitland
Chris Haywood	...	Dad Fitzpatrick
Deborah Mailman	...	Lou
Marton Csokas	...	Nick Maitland
William Zappa	...	Detective Sergeant Wesley
Charlotte Rose Regan	...	Cerebral Girl

Storyline

Jill Fitzpatrick is a 28-year old, street-smart, out-of-work private investigator wishing she wasn't celibate. Eager for the taste of adrenaline, she accepts a job investigating the disappearance of Mickey, a young female student. Jill quickly strikes a spark with the seductive Diana, Mickey's poetry lecturer. But it is not long before Mickey's strangled body is found. Distrusting the cops, Mickey's grief-stricken parents ask Jill to find her murderer. Jill is soon hurled into a passionate liaison with Diana as she enters the surprisingly seamy underworld of Mickey's life, looking for clues to her murder. For whom did Mickey write her sexually charged poems? What is the connection between Mickey and her two favorite poets? Who is leaving threatening messages in verse on Jill's answering machine? Blinded by her passion, Jill is compromised in her search for the truth - until her own life is in danger.

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian | sex | poet | lesbianism | lesbian kiss | 

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Taglines:

No evidence just a smell of sex and violence.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, and for language

Details

Country:

Australia Canada France Italy Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 2001 (Australia)

Also Known As:

A Máscara Do Macaco

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,831

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arenafilm, Asmik Ace Entertainment, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gigi Edgley was unable to complete her scenes for this film because she was needed back on Farscape (1999) to film the episode "Dream a Little Dream/Re:Union".

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Quotes

Jill Fitzpatrick: There's no drink to take away the taste of a fresh face rotting.

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Soundtracks

Dark Walk
Written by M. Brown, C. Frank and N, Miranda
Performed by Smoke City

User Reviews

Death in Inner City Poetry Scene

Let me state first of all that I liked this film. It revolves around a female PI who is investigating the disappearance of young student poet who is later found murdered. She becomes involved in an affair with the student's teacher who may or may not be involved in the murder. It flows quite well maybe abit slowly for some but to me this is the right pace. The movie is delineated into sections much like a poem and in some ways the lead (admirably played by Susie Porter) seems to float through this world of poetry readings, steamy love trysts and threatening phone calls a player yet somehow disassociated from it all.

There were however some things that annoyed me a little about the whole film and while they didnt spoil it for me they nevertheless grated on me. Susie Porters character though solidly played nevertheless did not ring true to me. She is meant to be a working class ex-cop familar with the mean streets of Western Sydney now navigating her way through this bunch of artsy intellectual types. She didnt quite ring true to me - she almost seemed part of that crowd herself - her outsider status wasnt obvious to this viewer.

I found the some of the use of nudity and sexual profanity abit try hard. What I mean by this is that it was almost abit forced.To me It looked as though it was saying look how comfortable we are in showing nudity etc,I suspect it was almost there to spice things up rather than being integral to the plot (to be fair a pretty hard line to draw on many occasions).I also found the whole characterisation of the murdered girl and her parents abit annoying. The parents are cardboard carictures of what inner city intellectuals view the suburbanites (with money) as -dull boring and clueless , & the murdered girl is portrayed as some spoilt little brat from the leafy suburbs on a parent subsidised rebellion - another cliche. I find this more than a little ironic as the subject matter of this film is likely to draw an audience (in Australia anyway) that is largely the arthouse end of the market (ie monied and educated) Anyway these points though somewhat annoying to this viewer really are only minor distractions.Overall the film is worth seeing.