Julia (1977)
Composite Score: 81.6
Starring: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximilian Schell, Hal Holbrook, Rosemary Murphy, and Meryl Streep
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Writers: Lillian Hellman and Alvin Sargent
Genres: Drama, History
MPAA Rating: PG
Box Office: $20.71 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Julia tells the story of playwright Lillian Hellman and her long-time friend Julia during the tumultuous years of the 1930s in both Europe and America as the Nazis are rising to power in Germany and the surrounding nations. It is a refreshingly unique story from the time period, focusing on Julia’s anti-fascist movement based in Vienna and Berlin with the story of Lillian’s struggles to connect with her friend and craft a quality play. Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jason Robards all add solid performances to this interesting story, bolstering its watchability with Oscar nominations and wins.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Upon finishing this film, I was struck with the feeling that the story could have been better executed. The story of an American Jewish playwright smuggling money into Nazi Germany to help pay bribes to free anti-fascist supporters working with one of her best friends should be more exciting than this film was. However, the film doesn’t begin exploring this major storyline until the second hour of its runtime, instead spending the first half of the film establishing the ladies’ friendship through disjointed flashbacks and voiceovers broken up by periods of “present day” Lillian struggling to write a play by the sea with her partner Hammett. Because it is based on Lillian Hellman’s actual play, some of this makes sense, but it does not translate well from stage to screen, creating a complex and less than connected character study of Lillian, losing the titular Julia entirely for vast portions of its runtime.
Also lost in the character study is any major exploration of the issues that underly the film’s story. It is simply understood that the audience does not like Nazis or fascism and agrees with Julia’s pursuit of freedom from tyranny without engaging with her much more interesting desire to help the poor and less fortunate, regardless of the Nazi involvement. It’s almost as if there are two stories wrapped into this one film, both of which could be fascinating watches on their own, worth exploring deeply, but that take away from one another when put together as one cohesive narrative.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Narrative cohesion, or lack thereof, aside, Julia contains some moving performances from its lead and supporting actors. Jane Fonda as Lillian delivers a powerful performance that communicates well what it looks like to be a young adult with a dream, struggling to write a quality play and stay connected with her friends while also working on her romantic life and dealing with a rapidly changing world and friends whose viewpoints may or may not align with her own anymore. It was, for me, the most relatable performance in the film and certainly well-crafted. Vanessa Redgrave’s few scenes as the film’s namesake also garnered a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and I suppose it makes sense. The wisdom that Julia speaks with conveys ideas beyond her apparently young age, and Redgrave consistently delivers such lines with a sense of belief that necessitates audience buy-in. Jason Robards as Lillian’s lover/mentor Hammett beat out his co-star Maximilian Schell for Best Supporting Actor, along with Sir Alec Guinness for his performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. All told, Robards’s performance was certainly stronger and had more screen time than Schell’s Johann, and I guess this was more of a performance-driven film than Star Wars, so it makes sense. Robards does a much better job playing mentor than he does lover, not that he is given much opportunity to portray the latter. He dispenses wisdom and advice to the younger Lillian both about life and about writing, from the outside of the wider world of the story. Perhaps his outside perspective also provides the audience and Lillian with an anchor point to return to after the sequences of the film that take place in Europe or in the past or even both.
Award-winning performances help keep Julia among the ranks of great films despite a convoluted story and lack of thematic cohesion. Fans of the film’s actors will certainly be rewarded for watching, but people interested in the subject matter, themes, and story might be a little bit disappointed. Nonetheless, it is worth watching, as it often appears among lists of the Greatest Films of All Time, and director Fred Zinnemann is certainly one of the greats, even if this is not necessarily his best.
