Monalisa
MONALISA is a short film made in India that tells the story of a husband in mourning of the passing of his wife. It’s a cautionary tale, as right upfront we see the warning onscreen that says “Smoking Kills.” Its message is anti-smoking, but there’s more to this story than that. The grieving husband is an artist, and he’s asked to copy the painting The Mona Lisa in watercolor. He had been very sad and couldn’t sleep. When his friend arrived and gave him the painting to copy, Sobha admires the details of the face of Mona Lisa, and this assignment seems a welcome respite, a distraction from his pain. His friend asks what happened to his wife, did she fall down the hill? She’s usually careful. Sobha is so sad and doesn’t explain.
Spoiler Warning! To describe the visceral nature of this impressive short film I need to go into detail on parts of the story that tell the story.
Sobha sets out to paint the watercolor copy, and is very careful to get the details just right. As he paints, he chain-smokes, and we see that the warning message from the beginning is relevant because this character is obviously reliant upon cigarettes. When he’s finished, he stands back to assess his work, and is not pleased with the result, because MONALISA is not happy. She looks gloomy. He is puzzled. This is not how he was painting her! He talks to the painting, asks if she is depressed. He even gives her a kiss on the forehead as if that will make her feel better.
Meanwhile he’s smoking up a storm, and getting increasingly sweatier and more ill looking. He tries again and again to paint MONALISA to look happy. But she is not happy, and he smokes even more. He looks once in a while at photos of his deceased wife. We know he is sad and missing her. He tries again with the painting. He even shows his friend and asks why the woman in the painting looks so gloomy. His friend can only reply that he’s the middleman, he doesn’t know painting. Sobha drinks and smokes a lot, trying to figure out how to make this right.
He takes a break and goes outdoors, where we see him taking a nap on stone steps with his face covered. A young girl comes to him and wants food. He sees strangers sitting nearby and a lady seems to look right at him with an intense gaze that disarms him. He feeds the little girl. She’s a moment of happiness right now for him. He has tears rolling down his cheek as he’s feeding the girl. He goes back to painting. Maybe this time he will get it right. Instead, with each new painting, MONALISA starts to look more like his wife.
I don’t want to give away the ending, but when Sobha’s friend comes to check on him, we understand now the warnings saying Smoking Kills, and something is revealed that helps to make sense of his anguish. The final painting is there, peaceful, because in a way there is resolution, at least from the painting’s point of view. It’s definitely worth watching to see what happens.
The symbolism of the paintings and MONALISA’s moods will become clear. I enjoyed this movie because I am an artist so I understood his frustration when the art isn’t playing along. I recommend this film because I haven’t seen anything like it, and it was intriguing.
The director Jay Gopal Paul did an excellent job crafting all the elements of the film that really dawn in the audience. The performances by Riddhish Chowdhry and Arup Sen are superb and bring the story to life.
