MovieChat Forums > Mona Lisa (1986) Discussion > White Rabbit and other symbols

White Rabbit and other symbols

posted 18 years ago by hoistmypatard
3 replies | jump to latest

Sorry if the subject title sounds like I'm going to give my view on the Rabbit (i'm not) but the discussion board on here is what made me think of it...I think these 'unique'moments actually detract from the film rather than add to it. The white rabbit is a common symbol (Alice, magicians, Matrix) and I feel the film uses this to imply it has deep metaphysical/philosophical meanings when I (admittedly, no Kael) thought about it. This, and things such as Coltrane's character (unnecessary in himself, let alone the 'book' banter), the dwarfs appearing on the pier (dwarfs also being an overused allegory, cf. Living in Oblivion). I have no doubt Jordan is more than competant in his field, and I DO like this film, yet when films attempt to fuse parable with entertainment, which is what this is, with the chases, guns & villians, happy ending etc, it is a shame not to see it done successfully. I honestly believe it should have either decided what everything meant (spaghetti ornemants!?) or made it less 'indie', if I may call it that.

To end on a good note, Hoskins is bloody brilliant in this.

[–] Pedro_H 18 years ago

Rabbit means "to talk" in Cockney rhyming slang. George didn't remember.

[–] pablo-taylor 17 years ago

The white rabbit is a reference to Alice in Wonderland; the film subtly plays with the notion of reality versus fantasy, note how the characters and events in the darker moments never intrude on the scenes between the George and Thomas. Although it's never stated explicitly, the idea is that the main story is just a tale that George is telling to his friend, one partly based on the truth but one that he's embellishing as he goes, in fact the book that Thomas recommends to George (The Deadly Percheron) is a real novel by John Franklin Bardin that uses this very idea (the film is filled with numerous references to the book). Another scene that backs this theory up is the very last one; George along with his daughter and Thomas walks off into the sunset Scott-free, yet in the preceding scene he's the witness/accomplice to a double homicide......

Saving Private Ryan = Forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliché-ridden flab.

[–] jonchopwood 14 years ago

For a symbol to work it has to have a concrete basis and the basis is that George is telling Mortwell that his promise to take care of him after prison is all "talk" (rabbit meaning talk in Cockney -- and they're both Cockneys).