Julia (1977)
Country: US
Technical: col 117m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Meryl Streep
Synopsis:
Playwright Lillian Hellman reminisces over her childhood friendship with a fellow Jew who went to Europe to study medicine and became embroiled in socialist politics just in time for the rise of the Third Reich. Determined to help her, she travels to Paris and is contacted by Julia's organisation, who give her one small task to accomplish.
Review:
A film of two halves, in more ways than one: on a character level it is grossly imbalanced in favour of Lillian, who comes over, frankly, as a bit of a klutz. On a dramatic level, only the second half, dominated by a train journey, carries any punch. In short, this is impeccably produced and no doubt close to the Austrian Zinnemann's heart, but the script never leaps off the page, and the actresses have nothing to work with, so their relationship fails to come alive. That it picked up three Oscars says a lot for the state of Hollywood film-making at the time. Based on a short story by Hellman from a collection entitled Pentimento (the artistic practice of painting over detail 'on second thoughts'), the double irony is that Hellman 'dimly remembered past' probably wasn't hers at all, but was based on the experience of a tenant of a professional associate.
Country: US
Technical: col 117m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Meryl Streep
Synopsis:
Playwright Lillian Hellman reminisces over her childhood friendship with a fellow Jew who went to Europe to study medicine and became embroiled in socialist politics just in time for the rise of the Third Reich. Determined to help her, she travels to Paris and is contacted by Julia's organisation, who give her one small task to accomplish.
Review:
A film of two halves, in more ways than one: on a character level it is grossly imbalanced in favour of Lillian, who comes over, frankly, as a bit of a klutz. On a dramatic level, only the second half, dominated by a train journey, carries any punch. In short, this is impeccably produced and no doubt close to the Austrian Zinnemann's heart, but the script never leaps off the page, and the actresses have nothing to work with, so their relationship fails to come alive. That it picked up three Oscars says a lot for the state of Hollywood film-making at the time. Based on a short story by Hellman from a collection entitled Pentimento (the artistic practice of painting over detail 'on second thoughts'), the double irony is that Hellman 'dimly remembered past' probably wasn't hers at all, but was based on the experience of a tenant of a professional associate.
Country: US
Technical: col 117m
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Meryl Streep
Synopsis:
Playwright Lillian Hellman reminisces over her childhood friendship with a fellow Jew who went to Europe to study medicine and became embroiled in socialist politics just in time for the rise of the Third Reich. Determined to help her, she travels to Paris and is contacted by Julia's organisation, who give her one small task to accomplish.
Review:
A film of two halves, in more ways than one: on a character level it is grossly imbalanced in favour of Lillian, who comes over, frankly, as a bit of a klutz. On a dramatic level, only the second half, dominated by a train journey, carries any punch. In short, this is impeccably produced and no doubt close to the Austrian Zinnemann's heart, but the script never leaps off the page, and the actresses have nothing to work with, so their relationship fails to come alive. That it picked up three Oscars says a lot for the state of Hollywood film-making at the time. Based on a short story by Hellman from a collection entitled Pentimento (the artistic practice of painting over detail 'on second thoughts'), the double irony is that Hellman 'dimly remembered past' probably wasn't hers at all, but was based on the experience of a tenant of a professional associate.