B.Monkey

Gosh, it's been a while, the year 2000 I believe, since I had last seen B.MONKEY. One distinctive memory is certainly Asia Argento. This was before I become aware of her father and I had left my first love, horror, for a little while due to school, marriage, and work. Watching early in the morning(about 1 am, to be exact)on cable due to my insomnia, B.MONKEY didn't really work for me as a crime drama. I see what they were trying to do with the overall theme. The idea of romance constantly thwarted by outside factors. Asia Argento and Jared Harris are polar opposites. Argento portrays Beatrice(Bea), a bank robber who has been associated with some rotten eggs in her lifetime. Jared Harris is a kindly schoolteacher who cares for his students' welfare(he has a child beaten by his mother at home). Bea has actually landed a job, albeit a minial one, as a gopher for big shots in the art world. These two meet and something sparks them. What interested me was the casting of Jared Harris. He seems very uncomfortable in his role as Alan, a disciplined, well-mannered, even-tempered man whose life is altered thanks upon meeting, and falling in love with, Beatrice. Rupert Everett is cast as a homosexual drug-addled criminal, Paul, who owes a lot of money to a mobster and has worked with Beatrice before. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is Everett's young lover, Bruno. Bea, Paul, and Bruno are a family and their dynamic is challenged when she falls for Alan. Alan makes his stance against her past. He doesn't want any association with her peeps, and would soon end the relationship(although, he doesn't want to, he loves her)than have their presence in his life to complicate things. Bea will have to make a choice. It's not an easy choice to make, but she can not leave this relationship. Bea adores Alan because he's exactly opposite of the men she is used to dating and losing due to her lifestyle.



I mentioned that Harris seems uncomfortable in his role. I think his teacher seems to be a character sexually in the closet, imputant, and unable to give Bea the sexual satisfaction she so desires. Their sex scenes seem awkward to me, because it seems to be false somehow. Like, Alan is the homosexual man many women fall in love with because he's sensitive to their needs, understanding, and more than a bit effeminate. There's a scene where Alan wakes up after sleeping with Bea, with Paul there instead. Paul even kisses Alan. It kind of occured to me while I was dwelling on this movie, that it probably would've been more authentic if Bea and Paul reversed roles. Bea the down-and-out sophisticated junkie with Paul and Alan the lovers trying to rid themselves of the criminal lifestyle. Maybe, it was the intention for Harris to be feminine and Argento to be more butch. Bea is the one who instigates the sex while Alan would be just satisfied in cuddling. She's the one whose rather foul in her language, is rude, and aggressive. Alan is none of those things, except he knows what he wants, and is clear that he will not contend with the ghosts of her past.

I like how the film shows the two separate, but yearn for each other when they are apart. Bea is hooked, line and sinker, and she can not deny what her heart so desires. Alan has dug in his spurs, though. He wants it to be just them. No Paul. No Bruno. Certainly, no Frank(the mobster)or his goons. I think this is where the movie fails. We always hear about how Paul is in dire straits with bad company. Bruno enters and exits the pictures in intervals. He pops up in Bea's life almost as a reminder of where she has been over the years. Bruno is volatile but passionate. He wants to succeed in his role as a criminal, trying to impress Frank. Paul alternates lovers and Bruno obviously wants them to have a loving relationship, but this is not to be.

Paul is a mess, and even when Bea provides a large sum of cash to pay off Frank, it does not help him. Bruno and Paul almost seem like thorns in the ass of Bea and Alan's romance. They are the elephant in the room spitting water from it's trunk at Bea and Alan..they want to avoid Bruno and Paul, but it's almost impossible to free themselves from such baggage. Whether Alan likes it or not, these two are Bea's family. Bruno says he'd die for Bea, and I certainly believe this..his eyes burn with intensity, Rhys Meyers, so young, his talents to be tapped after this. Bea returns to Paul because she worries for his welfare, as a sister would for her brother. The three care for each other, no matter what pulls them apart..it's no wonder the ending brings them back together in a highly emotional conclusion, where the issue with Frank is resolved.



For me, it's all about Asia Argento. The filmmakers have a chance to dress her up in all sorts of fashions, the camera worships her(cinematographer shoots her in ways that capture her in both elegant and smoldering ways), and she is more than willing to get buck naked at the drop of the hat. We also have the luxury of the European locations used to tell the romantic tale. I'm not convinced these two could make it for the long haul, but by the end, after all they go through in order for their love to endure, the filmmakers believe in them. The movie always hints at the inevitable violence to erupt..Frank wants his money and Paul has been to clumsy and irresponsible in his activities(his London flat is insane in it's decorative tastes of fine art, giant piano, and lamps/lights; this and Paul's drug habits are out of control).