Mona Lisa (2004) Online

It's so rare these days to see REAL human struggle portrayed in film. So much of what passes as "drama" in American pop culture involves stories about brutal criminals and fictitious monsters. But it's so much harder to depict the actual struggles of life and family.

Despite how devastating it is for me to watch this film (the actress's physical appearance and demeanor are strikingly similar to my deceased Mother's) it is strangely comforting to realize that I am not alone-- that other people, even on opposite sides of the world, have lived similar experiences.

The acting is right on target, and although the pacing is, at times, almost painfully slow, it does serve to draw us into the bleakness of their quiet grief.

Bravo to the filmmaker and everyone involved for having the courage to make a film about REAL STRUGGLE and the truthful, all too common, results of losing a life partner in one's old age.

Profound and Complex. This film is tender and absolutely heartfelt. Every moment is layered with poetry, from the imagery of the diabetic mother, sugar in the veins, the bleating lamb, the sensual gaze to memory, loss, new life, her son.

I'm not sure where the filmmaker stands in this personally -- but it feels very truthful. Is the son talking to a man....is he looking for his father figure in a lover? His frustration with his mother seems so genuine and soft, reminding him of his own ticking clock, mortality, his own desperate fear to reach love before it passes him by as well.

Bravo. This short film deserves much acclaim. I cried and was moved to think...a rare feat for a little film to achieve.