“What does Mike Newell’s film reveals about women’s lives?

Mike Newell’s film, Mona Lisa Smile studies the lives of women in the conservative setting of
Wellesley College, USA in the 1950’s. Females in the text are represented by the stereotypical
descriptions as mothers, wives and housewives. Newell’s film shows the challenges women face to
become individuals and to break free of these stereotypical bonds. This is represented in key scenes
through the Van Gough lesson and the secret initiation scene and in the film as a whole by the
means of film techniques.

The Van Gough scene reveals much about the challenges faced by women who sought to be
recognised and accepted as individuals in the 1950’s. Newell uses Van Gough to represent the
challenges that are faced by pioneers who refuse to conform to what people expect, this is shown in
this scene through dialogue by Newell using the protagonist Katherine Watson. The panning of the
camera across the students listening to Katherine’s lecture intently is juxtaposed by Newell to earlier
lectures in the film in which the students follow a strict textbook syllabus, seen by the collage as the
correct way to teach, representing the power of the institution which disallows women to think
independently. Newell’s sudden introduction of Betty cutting of Katherine’s sentence creates tension
through dialogue when Betty ends Katherine’s sentence in a mocking voice, “or we could be
ourselves”. The series of close-up facial shots revealing the character’s expressions show the dislike
between the protagonist; Katherine and the antagonist; Betty. Betty is used by Newell to personify
the values of Wellesley Collage as a traditionalist juxtaposed to Katherine represented by Newell as a
feminist and an academic dissent. Betty as the antagonist is shown to be in staunch opposition to
the ideas of women individuality which are represented by Katherine Watson, leading to the
conflicting relationship between them. The strong resistance that traditionalists offer is seen as one
of the challenges faced by women to become individuals.

The secret initiation scene is also used by Newell to show the challenge faced by women in the
1950’s to break free of stereotypical roles of motherhood and housekeeping. The cheerful mood in
this scene is created by Newell using non-diegetic sound and the cheerful faces of the girls gathered
around Katherine as she recounts past memories. The question “will you ever marry?” is used by
Newell to show Katherine’s individual values where she chooses to lead an independent life than
conform to the traditional role of a wife, in contrast to the girls at Wellesley College, who are all seen
to be in search of corporate husbands. Katherine’s response representing her individuality is met
with resistance by Betty who accuses Katherine of not allowing girls to follow their traditional ways.
Katherine is used by Newell to represent that women could do more things in life than solely adopt
the roles of wives and mothers. Betty’s announcement of Joan’s acceptance into Harvard law school
and the silence following this announcement and the surprised face of the Katherine shows the
unexpectedness of this situation. Betty is used by Newell to point out that marriage is seen as more
important than a career in the 1950’s, following Betty’s statement, “she knew you and Tommy were
seconds away from engagement but she still practically filled out you law school application”. This
shows that the society expected roles of females are present firmly in the minds of women and to
break away from these roles is represented as a great challenge.

In conclusion, Mona Lisa Smile by Mike Newell is an inspiring film that reveals a great deal about
women’s lives in the 1950s. Through the use of film techniques and dialogue through the characters,
the viewer can perceive the challenges faced by women who wish to break free of the stereotypical
bonds to become the individuals they choose to become. The film suggests that women face many
challenges to become individuals as is represented in Wellesley College.

TARANJIT KAUR