Mona Lisa’s smile: thanks to which famous First Lady this film was able to see the light of day?

Released in cinemas in 2003, the movie called Mona Lisa smileworn by Julia Roberts, Kirsten DunstJulia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaalwill be broadcast on Sunday April 24, 2022, from 8:55 p.m. on the Franco-German channel art. Directed by Mike Newellthis feature film takes place in 1953. A 30-year-old student freshly graduated from the University of California, Katherine Watson, played on screen by Julia Roberts, accepts the position of professor of art history at Wellesley College, a prestigious conservative women’s liberal arts college in Massachusetts. From the first lesson, Katherine discovers that all the students have already read the entire manual and know the program by heart.

She then uses her classes to introduce them to modern art and to orchestrate debates such as the beauty of art. Katherine gets to know her students and seeks to get them to aspire to more than just getting married and being good wives.. Screenwriters Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal came up with the idea for the film while reading an article about Hillary Clinton’s student years at Wellesley University. “We discovered that the students learned French literature and physics in the morning, and how to serve tea to their future husband’s boss in the afternoon… The contrast between the erudition of these students and the training as model wives was striking. It made us want to learn more“, explained Lawrence Konner.

Mona Lisa’s Smile: Only 6 Days of Shooting at Wellesley University

For the record, Wellesley is among those most prestigious and academically rigorous women’s universities, collectively referred to as “Seven Sisters“. In addition to Hillary Clinton, the university also had for students Madeleine Albright, Diane Sawyer, Ali McGraw, Cokie Roberts and Madame Tchang Kai-shek. Wellesley also enthusiastically received the film crew. She had access to the archives of this University of Massachusetts, and was able to film on the picturesque campus, designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, to whom we also owe Central Park in New York. Filming began in early fall. It was limited to 6 days on site so as not to disrupt campus life too much.

Loading-widget

Subscribe to the Telestar.fr Newsletter to receive the latest news for free