Mona Lisa (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The theme of prostitution, of course, has been much exploited in the cinema: suffice to mention Federico Fellini's Le notti di Cabiria (1957), Wilder's Irma la Douce (1963), John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (1969), Chantal Akermann's Jeanne Dielman (1975) and Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa (1986). But we must guess that it is not the 'sex-for-money' aspect of the oldest profession or, pace Buñuel, the marvellous bodies of its practitioners, that makes Belle de jour so unlike anything we have ever seen before, or since."--Luis Bunuel: New Readings (2019) by Peter William Evans, Isabel Santaolalla |
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Mona Lisa is a 1986 British neo-noir crime drama film about an ex-convict who becomes entangled in the dangerous life of a high-class call girl. The film was written by Neil Jordan and David Leland, and directed by Jordan. It was produced by HandMade Films and stars Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, and Michael Caine.
The film was nominated for multiple awards, and Bob Hoskins was nominated for several awards for his performance (including the Academy Award for Best Actor), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Plot
George, a low-level working-class gangster recently released after seven years in prison, is given a job in London by his former boss, Denny Mortwell, as the driver and bodyguard for a high-priced prostitute named Simone. Mortwell also wants George to gather information on one of Simone's wealthy customers for blackmail purposes. Simone, who has worked hard to develop high-class manners and an elite clientele, initially dislikes the uncouth and outspoken George, and he regards her as putting on airs. But as George and Simone find out more about each other, they form a friendship, and George begins to fall in love with her. George agrees, at the risk of his own life, to help Simone find her teenage friend Cathy, who has disappeared, and who Simone fears is being abused by her violent former pimp, Anderson.
George increasingly finds himself torn between his feelings for Simone, his obligations to his boss Mortwell, and his relationship with his teenage daughter Jeannie, a sweet normal girl who has matured while he was in prison and wants to have her father in her life.
After Anderson tries to slash Simone and attacks George, Simone flees to Brighton. George finally finds Cathy and takes her to Brighton to reunite her with Simone, where he lends Simone a gun. He discovers that Simone and Cathy are lovers. Mortwell and Anderson arrive to take back control of Simone and Cathy, but Simone shoots them both dead and turns her gun towards George. He punches her, takes the gun and leaves. Freed of his underworld obligations, George returns to a more normal life, working in his friend Thomas's garage and spending time with Jeannie.
Cast
- Bob Hoskins as George
- Cathy Tyson as Simone
- Michael Caine as Denny Mortwell
- Robbie Coltrane as Thomas
- Clarke Peters as Anderson
- Kate Hardie as Cathy
- Zoë Nathenson as Jeannie
- Sammi Davis as May
- Rod Bedall as Terry
- Joe Brown as Dudley
- Pauline Melville as George's Wife
- Hossein Karimbeik as Raschid
- John Darling as hotel security
- Maggie O'Neill as girl in Paradise Club
- Bryan Coleman as Gentleman in mirror room
- Robert Dorning as hotel bedroom man
- Perry Fenwick as pimp
See also
- BFI Top 100 British films
- Trinity Court, Gray’s Inn Road, film location
