Mona Lisa Smile

Introduction

Mona Lisa Smile begins in 1953 with Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) taking up her post as a lecturer of the History of Art at the exclusive Wellesley College. Her first lesson goes incredibly badly as every student has read the core literature and can answer each question she poses, some even before she has a chance to open her mouth! The only way the girls will learn is if Katherine veers from the curriculum and shows them something new to challenge their preconceptions about art.

Katherine realises that her challenge is not so much to teach the girls the syllabus, as they already know it, but to educate them more broadly about art and life in general. Her liberal Californian values clash with the conservative environment of Wellesley, where the school nurse (Juliet Stevenson) is fired for handing out contraceptives and Katherine fields questions about her unmarried status, whilst sleeping with Bill Dunbar (Dominic West), the Italian Professor and college Lothario. Against this background, Katherine has to deal with students who are either getting married or are looking to settle down whilst at college and, to her dismay, have no ambitions to go to Graduate School.

Video

A great deal of effort has obviously gone into recreating the look of 1953/1954 Massachusetts which pays dividends in a thoroughly convincing portrayal of the time. The costumes, props, make-up and every other aspect of the mise-en-scène look authentic and the film is beautifully shot and near-flawlessly presented in the 1080p picture.

*The pictures contained in this review are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the image quality of the disc.*

Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack effortlessly delivers crystal-clear dialogue and effective ambience, from background bar-room chatter to swing music in a dance hall. There are three soundtrack options and, as there should be, many subtitles to choose from.

Extra Features

Sadly, just an EPK package of one-on-one interviews, where the cast chat about art, how times have changed and the place of women in society. Also included is the music video of Elton John's theme song.

Conclusion

Mona Lisa Smile is similar to other 'inspirational teacher' movies, like To Sir, With Love, Dangerous Minds and Dead Poets Society, but differs slightly in that the teacher is dealing with the brightest students in the country and is trying to get them to break the mould.

The setting of the early 1950s is interesting as the decade was a period of flux, where women had returned to the home after working through the war, but was just before the Women's Liberation movement in the 1960s. However, this is only the backdrop to a female version of Dead Poets Society in an imagined setting, as neither director Mike Newell nor the screenwriters were at Wellesley in the 1950s - and neither was I, so I can't vouch for the veracity of its depiction!

Newell is a reliable helmsman, with some outstanding films under his belt and, in Julia Roberts, he has a largely reliable and bankable leading lady who doesn't disappoint, however she is overshadowed by three of the most promising 20-something actresses: Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Julia Stiles - then newcomer Ginnifer Goodwin almost steals the show.

This is a film that I expected to dislike with a passion, but ended up quite enjoying it. It's not my favourite genre but I quite liked it nonetheless - if a lightweight romantic drama is your idea of a good night in, then you could do a lot worse than this.