Mona Lisa (1986)

Very interesting film, it didn't turn out quite as we wondered or expected. A number of us who went to see this film at the Garden Cinema recently. It was really great to chat to all of you about it afterwards!  Love their new Atrium Bar.

I got stuck on Why on earth would the Bob Hoskins character bring a white rabbit into this story? The plates of spaghetti and green-lit Jesus statues were also plenty weird.  Turns out that someone had a brilliant thought about precisely that specific plot element! (Here is the link) And I've got to put that some place that offers the opportunity for others to add their take, make it more of a discussion. The functionality on the group's event page isn't ideal for that.

So I came up with the idea of starting a blog. Hey presto, here we go...!

I added the link to this post (above) to do this justice. I thought this idea is rather thought-provoking. It is about the apperances of the white rabbit bookending a story in a story. And here is the spoiler: the writer's take is that Simone's story is a made up, that it never happened. I find the seven supporting bullet points he comes up with pretty persuasive. Like that scenes with his daughter never intersect wtih the characters from Simone's story (except Thomas, the mechanic best friend seems to stradle both: as the real friend at beginning and end, and the procurer of weird novelty products in the middle.). And the sheer fact that George walking into a petshop to buy a 'long eared white rabbit' is utterly weird. Funny that the answer was no, but that a short-eared white rabbit is available.  What do you think of that idea, that this part of the film isn't real?

When looking at what others are saying about the film and the role of the rabbit, 'Alice in Wonderland' often gets mentioned.  "Going down the rabbit hole" comes to mind.  The term 'rabbit' could also mean to talk.

 

Much interesting stuff has been written about this movie, here's more reviews:

About Mona Lisa and link to fairy tales (link here) 

The RogerEbert.com review featuring a terrific photo from the film! (link here)

Body Heat (1981)

 

After watching the film, we were standing outside the cinema to discuss the twist and turns of this film. It was quite funny actually, we started to chat as we left the screen, and it felt like they shut off the lights behind us, bit by bit, as we gradually moved to the exit. You would think they wanted to close!

There were four of us and I think we all really enjoyed this film with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. Great twist at the end.

One of you mentioned a plot aspect of blackmail. I didn't pick up on this while watching, that's very intriguing!  I'd love to explore that bit more, who remembers who said or thought of this?

I think it was by the original, actual Matty?  Please tell me more!

 

I want to add more below (blog post to be edited), but wanted to post a placeholder to keep it chronological.

Watch this space.