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Mona Lisa Smile
 
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Mona Lisa Smile

Julia Roberts , Kirsten Dunst , Mike Newell    PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)   DVD
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)

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Après avoir réalisé des films aussi différents que Quatre mariages et un enterrement ou Donnie Brasco, Mike Newell poursuit son cheminement éclectique avec Le Sourire de Mona Lisa, regard sur les balbutiements du féminisme dans les années 50 en Amérique.

En 1953, Katherine Watson, jeune diplômée de l’Univerité de Californie à Los Angeles (UCLA), accepte un poste de professeure en histoire de l’art au collège Wellesley, institution conservatrice où l’on forme les jeunes filles de bonne famille à devenir de parfaites mères et épouses. Miss Watson est convaincue qu’elle réussira à ouvrir d’autres horizons à ses élèves en les enjoignant à penser par elles-mêmes.

Même si le scénario du Sourire de Mona Lisa faisait craindre un simple copié collé au féminin de celui du Cercle des poètes disparus, le résultat s’avère toutefois original. La jeune professeure (une Julia Roberts pas toujours dans le ton) ne cherche pas à galvaniser l’esprit de ses troupes (Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles et Maggie Gyllenhaal en tête) en lançant des slogans accrocheurs, mais plutôt à les accompagner sur le chemin de l’émancipation. Sans être trop simplificateur, le film nous fait alors sentir le poids des conventions que ces femmes eurent à éprouver. Bien que multipliant les histoires secondaires à l’utilité plus ou moins affirmée, et ne sachant tout à fait trouver un rythme adéquat, Le Sourire de Mona Lisa a le mérite de faire un portrait assez juste de cette génération de femmes des années 50 à qui l’on apprenait la docilité comme vertu première. – Helen Faradji.


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Customer Reviews

92 Reviews
5 star:
 (23)
4 star:
 (24)
3 star:
 (24)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (13)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (92 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars Mona Lisa is definitely smiling, April 4 2004
By 
Bonnie George (California, Missouri) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mona Lisa Smile (DVD)
Mona Lisa Smile is an inspiring film based on a time period when women are beginning to explore alternative roles in society other than the traditional roles of being a stay at home mother who concentrates on her husband's career and success--rather than her own. Julia Roberts and her fellow actresses explore the roles of women as Julia plays an art professor who sets out to academically enlighten a group of already well-educated, rich girls attending a finishing school. Through this enlightening process she helps several of the students find their way, broaden their horizons, and in the process finds herself. The movie deserves four stars because Julia's character not only lets the audience relate on a feminine level but on a humanitarian level as well. The viewer can truly imagine the Mona Lisa smiling, if she were to watch Julia Robert's performance in this movie.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Stelalr cast lost in soap opera screenplay, Mar 16 2004
By 
Matthew Horner (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Mona Lisa Smile (DVD)
As entertainment, "Mona Lisa Smile" has its strong points. After all, it features some of some of today's best actresses - Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marcia Gay Harden. It has the look of the 1950s, which makes it a handsome period piece. The movie's central problems are its unsuccessful attempts to convey the real feeling of the period and its failure to create any truly memorable characters [the script's fault more than the performers']. While it wants to be seen as a historically accurate portrait of upper-middle class society fifty years ago, it winds being no more than an entertaining soap opera. [For a more astute vision of the period, watch the vastly superior "Far From Heaven" [2002]. For a searing portrait of a teacher in an all girls' school, check out 1969's "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie".]

Katherine Watson [Roberts], a recent UC Berkeley graduate, lands a job at Wellesley College, a prestigious East Coast women's college, as an art history teacher. She is impressed by her students' eagerness to learn, but appalled that, despite their academic excellence, their main ambition is to marry well. She begins a fairly benign campaign to get these women to realize that there might be other ambitions in life worth pursing. Her efforts make the college's president and its board of trustees uncomfortable to the point that her job is in danger. The students' responses range from acceptance to outright hostility.

The always delightful Roberts is miscast here. She is a joy to watch and gives one of her most mature performances, yet she comes off as an early 21st Century woman sent to the mid-20th Century to show these girls what the future will be like. This interpretation gives her character a certain smugness.

The supporting cast is uniformly excellent. Gyllenhaal nearly steals the movies as Giselle, a beautiful Jewish student, the only one who seems destined to be on the forefront of women's lib in years to come.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Film for all women, Mar 8 2006
This review is from: Mona Lisa Smile (DVD)
I loved this movie. It is a film all feminist women should see and I think they'll enjoy it as much as I did. I loved the acting by Julia and Kristen and was pleasantly suprised at how rude Kristen's character could be. If you're looking for a film with some what good portrayls of women this is it.
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