365 Days. 365 Films.

Mona Lisa Smile is a drastically underrated film about an art professor and her students, set in the 1950s she teaches her all female class to challenge the ideology which has shaped them over their whole lives to become stronger, more free-thinking young women. This is another film in which Julia Roberts stuns and surprises – she can be a genuinely brilliant actress, but some roles she chooses are dramatically unsuitable and kind of turns her into an annoyingly hammy actress, but she was incredible in this.

The whole cast is brilliantly chosen for their roles and play their parts with passion and a true understanding for what it must have been like at the time. Mike Newell also displays a similar attitude in his direction, not only extracting the very best performances from each and every one of them but by including the same style and pizazz as he displayed in his other greats such as Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The best aspect of the film by far is the historical awareness, bringing both drama and emotion to the film, and both the cinematography and the music compliment the feel-good and passionate angle. This is a film that you may not want to watch more than once but one that you will never forget.