Following their definitive release of The Long Good Friday, Arrow Video is thrilled to announce the individual release of Mona Lisa, Neil Jordan’s hard-edged yet romantically evocative British thriller which saw Bob Hoskins return to the gangster genre 5 years after playing Harold Shand. In Mona Lisa, Hoskins plays the small-time criminal forced to work for gangland kingpin Michael Caine as chauffeur to Cathy Tyson’s upmarket prostitute, Hoskins garnered an Oscar nomination as well as winning Best Actor awards at Cannes, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes, and Mona Lisa remains one of his greatest roles.
This newly restored version will be available on dual format Blu-ray & DVD from 6th July 2015 and is also included as part of an exclusive limited-edition 3,000 run box set which includes both films alongside a 100-page hard-back book and an exclusive bonus disc featuring the Blu-ray premiere of John Mackenzie’s notorious farm safety film Apaches.
The Arrow Video restoration of The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa is a fitting tribute to Bob Hoskins, a year after his sadly premature death, being that it features two of his greatest performances.
Synopsis
Five years after The Long Good Friday, Bob Hoskins returned to the gangster genre, but his character George is a mere underling this time, a chauffeur hired by a mesmerisingly slimy gangland kingpin (Michael Caine) to transport a high-class prostitute (Cathy Tyson) from client to client. When she enlists his help in tracking down an old friend, George finds himself exploring a hellish underworld that he never imagined existed.
Hoskins’ immensely complex, subtle and moving performance hoovered up almost every Best Actor award going (Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe) and remains one of his greatest roles – a man sucked by circumstance into a life of crime but still righteous enough to seize the opportunity to do good when it presents itself.
Director Neil Jordan (The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game) and co-writer David Leland (Made in Britain) achieve a perfect blend of hard-edged realism and unexpected fantasy, with the regular appearance of the Nat King Cole title song turning seedy British locations (Soho, Brighton) into something far more romantically evocative.
Special Features
· Brand new restoration sourced from the original camera negative, approved by director Neil Jordan and cinematographer Roger Pratt
· High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
· Original uncompressed PCM mono 1.0 sound
· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
· Audio commentary by Bob Hoskins and Neil Jordan
· Brand new interviews with director Neil Jordan, writer David Leland and producer Stephen Woolley
· Original Trailer
· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
