Soho Bites 48: Mona Lisa (1986)

After two years in the wilderness, we return to your ears with episode 48 and a brilliant film - Mona Lisa (1986).

Directed by Neil Jordan and written by David Leland, it’s a noir thriller with a fantastical edge - or perhaps a fantasy cloaked in noir - about humans finding connection in a grim world.

Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane all turn in beautiful performances and we catch a glimpse of the real Soho as it was before gentrification began.

Soho based film producer, Colin Vaines, returns to the show to talk about Mona Lisa.

Our guest for the thematically linked supporting feature© is Professor Oliver Carter of Birmingham City University. Oliver has been running a research project called Under the Counter looking at the history of the British pornography industry for several years and he shares some of the nuggets of his extensive research.

Mona Lisa is available to stream on various platforms but if you’re a physical media person and if you prefer to not give money to Jeff Bezos when you can help it, you can buy it from Arrow Films.

The famous scene in which Bob Hoskins walks around Soho is, perplexingly, accompanied by In Too Deep by Genesis.

We try not to promote Xwitter these days so follow Colin on Facebook.

Oliver has various links - his website, the Under the Counter website from where you can buy his book and the Under the Counter archive at the Bishopsgate Institute (slightly NSFW).

Check out Mona Lisa’s then & now locations thanks to our friends at Reelstreets.

Thank you to the Museum of Soho for allowing us to record in their gallery at All is Joy, 75 Dean Street, Soho.

Thank you for listening.

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