Monday, January 09, 2006

MonaLisa Smile

One of the costliest painting and perhaps the most famous painting in the world is "MonaLisa" at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, this blog ain't going to talk about the painting or about the painter! There is something similar to this painting that I am going to talk about and it’s a movie which shares the paintings' name - MonaLisa Smile.

Set in middle of the 20th century, the story begins when an art teacher joins a very famous all-female Wellesly College. Julia Roberts learn that Wellesly is a college that boasts of "creating" the perfect wives for men! It aims at teaching the nuances of being a good housewife! In a place where people refuse to believe in individuality, Roberts asks her students to aim for stars. She asks her students to be more creative, to give more importance to their thoughts and lands up getting a name as a reformist in a conservative college.

With a beautiful cast involving Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhall & many ebullient young ladies, the film is a treat to both heart and soul.(should I mention eyes too???) There are so many poetic scenes in this film. One of my favorites being, when Julia asks her students to just admire an inspiring piece of art rather than writing an assignment about it or even considering it.

When I watch this highly optimistic film, one of the famous quotes that my college chum used to often utter comes to my mind. He used to say - "Always aim for the stars. Only then you will reach the tree top. If you aim for the tree top, you will grab the mud!" Roberts asks her students to do the same thing and wins the heart of her students and the institute. The maximum number of enrollments in Wellesley College was for Roberts course the very next year.

It was my dear friend Vidhya who mailed me once about this film. She was my onsite co-ordinator and she was telling me about this movie and she was all "oohs" and "aahs" for this film. I saw this film when I came for my onsite assignment and fell in love with it. Its a very positive, optimistic , heartwarming drama. You can watch this with you dear and near ones with a hot cup of chai and a plate filled with Pakoras...

1 comment:

Vidhya Rajesh said...

Oh! Ram ... Thanks for that wonderful mention of me :) ..
I really loved the movie ... I love the part when Kristen Dunst hugs julia roberts in the end, when she realizes that she was always wrong ... And inspite of all, julia just accepts her ...
One of the must adds to any movie collector's collection.
How about seeing my fav - StepMom next??