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Film Critique

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FILM CRITIQUE
(Final Version)
Mona Lisa Smile
At the very first glance, the title “Mona Lisa Smile” gives me an impression of mysterious and controversial, which is exactly the same as the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. This impression inspires me to watch the whole film excitedly.
The film does show a great 1950s period with the brilliant cast performance. The leading character, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts) is amazing. She is a very special woman who is the center of the whole story. She wants to make difference at Wellesley College - one of the most conservative institutions in the USA by encouraging the girls there to think more for themselves and make their own choices out of the tradition. It can be seen that Julia Robert really succeeds in showing Katherine’s psychological process. At the beginning of the film, Katherine appears to be very calm and independent woman; she strongly believes in the progressive thinking and supposes it will be good for all of her students. But as the story is coming to the end, I can realize that actually Katherine is not so sure about herself, especially after her student, Joan (Julia Stiles) decides to get married instead of going to law school as Katherine recommended. Even though Katherine follows the new movement, there are still some traditional ideas inside that prevent her from totally getting out of the conservative opinions and finding her own way. It is quite reasonable as the 1950s is the transforming period between the conservative and progressive thinking about women, therefore, some conflicts inside each person seems to be unavoidable. Other actresses such as Kirsten Dunst (Betty), Julia Stiles (Joan) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Giselle) also play their roles very well.
About the content, it is a pity that the film seems to be unsuccessful in promoting the feminism as it is supposed. The problem maybe that even the leader of the movement – Katherine Ann Watson finally leaves under the pressure of the conservative strict rules and there are almost no significant changes among her students. As a result, in spite of great cast performance, Mona Lisa Smile leaves little impression behind.

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