B. Monkey (1998)

Note Générale:

6,1/10   

Réalisateur:

Michael Radford

Scénaristes:

Andrew Davies (novel)
Chloe King (writer)

Date de sortie:

15 juillet 1999 (Allemagne)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

Accroche:

Trouble never looked so good

Intrigue:

Alan Furnace is a young man with the perfectly proper, quiet life of a London school teacher. But beneath...

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | Love | Fight | Thief | Monkey

Avis des utilisateurs:

Watch it for Argento and some good touches but this is mainly bland and uninteresting

Ensemble

Asia Argento	...	Beatrice
Jared Harris	...	Alan Furnace
Rupert Everett	...	Paul Neville
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Bruno
Julie T. Wallace	...	Mrs. Sturge
Ian Hart	...	Steve Davis
Tim Woodward	...	Frank Rice
Bryan Pringle	...	Goodchild
Clare Higgins	...	Ms. Cherry
Simone Bowkett	...	Angie
Marc Warren	...	Terence
Camilo Gallardo	...	Barman (Conrans)
Michael Carlin	...	Carlo
Paul Ireland	...	Barman (Kings Head)
Elizabeth Ash	...	Nurse (as Elisabeth Ash)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and language, and for violence and drug content.

Durée:

92 min

Pays:

UK | USA

Langue:

Anglais | Italien | Français

Couleur:

Couleur (Technicolor)

Rapport de forme:

1,85 : 1

Son:

Dolby Digital

Classification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 (DVD) | Argentina:16 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (uncut) | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Lieux de tournage:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Société:

Miramax Films

Anecdotes:

Michael Caton-Jones was the original director for the film but left over creative differences.

Guillemet:

Alan Furnace: [first lines - at DJ mic] You grow up in the suburbs, you picture a life for yourself, right? A life of danger, late nights in smokey Jazz clubs, beautiful women everywhere. There's Janda Rhineheart with A Hot Cup of Paris, 1939. - You're listening to Night Duty in Saint Jose's hospital. - Only then you *do* grow up, and you're not living that life. You're poor. You teach in a school during the day, and of course you like it. Though you can barely find time to play the bloody trumpet.

Connexions:

Référencé sur When Brendan Met Trudy (2000)

Bande son:

DE CAMPTOWN RACES

Watch it for Argento and some good touches but this is mainly bland and uninteresting

Alan Furnace is a school teacher who's only joy in life is his late-night slot on hospital radio where he can play the light jazz he loves so much. Seeking more excitement in his life, he takes an interest in a collection of people in a local pub who the barman describes as "criminals". Despite this Alan approaches the woman of the group – the sexy and charming Beatrice, but is surprised when she responds to his advances. As he gets to know her, he uncovers a damaged soul with a murky past and dark present that perhaps he would be keep out of; however, as much as he is put off he is drawn in and soon finds himself involved deeper than he had ever planned.

I'll be honest and say that I was only drawn to this film by the strange title; other than that I had no idea what it was about but decided to give it a stab anyway. However the film seems to be aiming for a mood rather than a narrative and, as a result, this film is more about the tone and feel and thus it fails to really engage because the story isn't there. Well, there is a story but it comes second to the mood and it isn't well developed, is full of illogical holes that just don't convince and feels like a mishmash of other films' ideas. It is interesting at points but ultimately it doesn't work. The film tries to be seedy and introspective, using smoky rooms, jazz and crime as motivators and the "normal guy" as our way in, but even this doesn't totally work and elements of it failing make it feel like it has all been forced from the start – certainly the choice of the jazz music is way off.

However, as the title suggests, the film is more about Beatrice than the other characters and, as such, it is interesting enough even if she isn't as well developed a character as a "character driven film" would usually require. The performance from Argento is good and she has a real sexy presence that is more than just her taking her clothes off for the cameras – it is an aspect of her character that the film uses well. Harris is every bit as bland as the music he plays and he is the reason why I never bought the main relationship once – OK, she's after a "nice guy" but would she go for someone so very bland? The rest of the cast are colourful enough and do OK work with very basic material; Rhys-Meyers is good, Everett does his usual lazy, bi-sexual performance, Hart has a small role and the rest are just basic "East End thug" sorts.

Overall this is a film to watch for the sexy, dark presence of Argento and that alone. Outside of her, the narrative is pretty weak and never really convinced me or involved me; the dramatic fireworks come and go without really doing much and by the end I was pretty bored by the whole affair. Argento and some of the support cast make it worth a go but, like Harris and his type of jazz music, this film is consistently bland and uninteresting.