Rating:  -
I usually hate Julia Roberts but I actually found that i enjoyed this film and I had to buy it. I do not usually write reviews of movies, rather books from a feminist scholars slant. However the era of the 1950s was an interesting period historically and for some reason that is an era that we have come to romanticize. I think that this film portrays a lot of interesting points about being a woman in that particular era. It shows several of the down falls to having that happy housewife attitude to that world. I usually hate Julia Roberts for some reason but i love her character in this particular movie though as it really does challenge the culture of the time that has somehow crept into the way we still even think today.
I found the special features to be interesting. I enjoyed the fact that instead of just praising the actors and the script the way a lot of featurettes seem to do, it really pointed out some of the more historical facts that this was based on. I found it intriguing to hear how the modern actresses had to train in etiquette and such. My only real disappointment in these features is indicative on how i do take a more academic stance on things at times: I was disappointed that they did not cite the more of the videos and historical information that they found. Yes, they did cite the Welsey archives and Emily Post but there was obviously more information that they did not cite which i found relatively disappointing in that fact.
While it is not the most brilliant script ever. Some of the lines and characters do seem a little cliche, however they are still fully fleshed in a way that does bring out some really important themes about gender. I would show this movie to a women's bookclub or to students newly exposed to the field of women's studies as a great discussion ground for some more visual representations of that particular era, not just some Ozzy and Harriet thing.
Rating:  -
Mona Lisa Smile is more about the mores of the east coast elite than art history as its name might imply. As with many real life situations, conclusions are not drawn with crystal clarity, tending to make the viewer feel a lack of closure. And all of the characters do not necessarily grow as a result of their experiences; instead, they merely become aware of their own limitations. Julia Roberts succeeds in playing the multidimensional role of the art history instructor by occasionally allowing the viewer to see the nonconforming liberal underneath the quiet and reserved historian. The supporting actresses who play the roles of the students shine in their performances with the exception of Julia Stiles who just can't seem to sound natural in her elocution-smooth accent. The faithful recreation of the 1950s culture of this elite group, including fashions, home décor, TV programs, dances, and traditional activities of the college keep the viewer interested, as does a dynamic plot. The main value in Mona Lisa Smile lies in the understanding of a generation of women who were taught to believe that marriage and housewifery was the only meaningful option for women of their class and that it was guaranteed to provide fulfillment.
Rating: -
We watched the movie "Mona Lisa Smile" for our English lessons at school. We watched it, because we had the topic " gender roles" and so in our opinion the movie was very interesting and supported the topic. The movie shows on the one hand how a emancipated woman carry through the society of the 50's and on the other hand how the society don't understand and accept her behaviour.
When the view of the people were very conservatively, it was tradition that young women get married and became housewives and mothers, even when they were talented and put down excellent school exams. No exception make there the graduates of the famous Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Katherine Watson(Julia Roberts) a young free-mental lecturer for history of art wants to teach not only history of art to her pupils, but to encourage rather a striving for self-sufficiency and independence and also to break out of the long-existing traditions. Only once it pushes thereby on refusal, from arrogant young ladies, who have above all their future role as wife, mother and perfect hostess in the view. She is also criticized from her colleagues, because of her unusual teaching methods. The author not only shows the life of Katherine, but also of some students at the college like the sexually curious Giselle(Maggie Gyllenhaal)and the bright Joan (Julia Stiles).
In our opinion the acting achievement of the female main characters are very good and sympathetic.
Rating: -
"Mona Lisa Smile" follows Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), a progressive, feminist art teacher as she travels from California to Wellesley in 1953 to accept her dream job as an art history professor. Wellesley is an exclusive girls' school, home to well-bred, wealthy young women whose sole purpose after college (often during) is to get married, have babies, and be the perfect mother and housewife. Katherine is quickly frustrated by the stifling traditional atmosphere.
On the first day of class, Katherine is humiliated when all of the students have memorized the art history textbook, quickly making a shambles of her first lesson. Shaken, Katherine calls her boyfriend in tears. The girls are rude, conceited, and have no intent to challenge themselves, which is where Katherine draws the line. Ever the trooper, she marches back to the next class with slides of modern art, making the girls think outside the textbook on the nature of art.
The rest of the film follows Katherine as she attempts to fight the Stepford Wives system: the girls spend time learning etiquette, poise, and elocution, place settings, and banter, but mostly hunting future husbands and having lavish weddings. Katherine soon locks horns with Betty (Kirsten Dunst), the most dangerous of the lot. Betty's backstabbing quickly sees to the firing of the school's lesbian nurse for distributing contraceptives, and tries to have Katherine fired as well. She is generally only good at bringing misery to those around her, failing to see her own shortcomings or her husband's infidelities.
Katherine soon comes up against the opinions of the other professors, and is pursued by Bill Dunbar, the handsome Italian professor who sleeps with his students. To me, the romance felt forced: Katherine rejects a marriage proposal, and a woman as liberal and feminist as Katherine wouldn't be caught dead with the chauvinistic Bill. The camaraderie of several of the students (Joan, Giselle, and Connie) is shown throughout the year at different campus events, which serves to develop their characters and to see the difference that Katherine makes on their lives (Giselle aspires to be more like Katherine).
Katherine soon is introducing "dangerous, subversive" feminist ideas by using propaganda (advertisements) of housewives to show the girls that throwing their education away for a happy home is a mistake. One of her students, Joan, is accepted to Yale Law School, but her decision and freedom is ultimately her own to decide.
This was a better movie than I expected after reading several reviews. The period costumes and music really transported me to a simpler time. Julia Roberts' character was delightfully down to earth, and the many big-name young stars (Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal) fit seamlessly into the fabric of the early 1950s. The scenery of Wellesley College (filmed on location) reminded me strongly of my own campus (Michigan State with its Beaumont Tower). The film has moments of humor, but also darker moments of jealousy and spite that result in larger consequences (the firing of the school nurse, a broken relationship, a girl being thrown out of her home).
The DVD comes with a few extras, namely three featurettes on College: Now and Then, Art History, and What Women Wanted: 1953, which all feature movie footage interspersed with interviews from cast and crew, a music video for Elton John's "The Heart of Every Girl," and several movie trailers.
Rating: -
While a bit formulaic, MONA LISA SMILE manages to escape the chains of the "inspiring teacher" format, if only for short periods of time. During these moments, we feel as if we are glimpsing something real, a teacher who is not invincible, who does not know everything, etc. Like many films about teaching these days, the plot suffers from a dual burden: how do we both explore the life of the teacher AND the lives of her students. In the end, it is a losing battle, and very few films manage to pull it off. The ones that do succeed (for example, DEAD POETS SOCIETY), do so because they ultimately choose one over the other.
I brought up the movie, so I might as well complete the comment that has been made over and over again: MONA LISA SMILE feels very much like a female-version of DEAD POETS SOCIETY. The difference here is that the "tradition" that threatens to break the wills of the students is not merely a New England prep-school mentality--it is the bonds of patriarchy. This lends extra "bite" to the themes in the film and provide for a compelling storyline.
Overall, Roberts does a fantastic job owning the screen and we root for her all the way. MONA LISA SMILE is not the best "teaching" film I've seen recently, but it certainly is not the worst either. If you have any love of the genre, you have to check it out.
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