BEING JULIA
Directed by István Szabó; written by Ronald Harwood based on the novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham; cinematography by Lajos Koltai; editing by Susan Shipton; original music by Mychael Danna; production design by Luciana Arrighi; art direction by Paul Ghirardani and Lorand Javor; set decoration by Zoltán Horváth, Attila Köves, and Ian Whittaker; costume design by John Bloomfield
With: Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson, Shaun Evans, Lucy Punch, Maury Chaykin, Tom Sturridge, Rosemary Harris, Rita Tushingham, and Michael Gambon. Rated R for some sexuality. Running time: 105 Minutes



Reviewed by Joel Johnson

Being Julia has terrific bloodlines from the renowned novelist and playwright W. Somerset Maugham, whose story is transformed for the screen by the director Szabó (director of Best Foreign Language Academy Award-winner Mephisto) and screenwriter Harwood (Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award-winner for The Pianist) to the deep, top-notch cast that brings it to life. However, while the story itself is low-impact farce, in these capable hands it becomes a delightfully knowing look at life and, specifically, life in the theatre. The star power of some cast members in certain supporting roles may seem to be a bit superfluous, but it is absolutely imperative that the titular role of Julia be played by an actress who commands our attention and our adoration.

Annette Bening is just the right actress for the role of Julia, a theatre diva in 1930s London. Julia has given her all to the theatre and has become self-centered and sour. As if the demands of eight shows a week were not enough, Julia finds herself perched on the precipice of matronhood and worries about losing her leading lady status. She is very dismayed that life may be passing her by. She has a cordial, companionable marriage to her husband Michael (Jeremy Irons showing his patented blasé cool), but the bonds are based on shared career interests—not passion. She’s slightly perplexed that her son Roger (Tom Sturridge), who has spent his upbringing away at school, has somehow behind her back become an adult. What’s a theatre diva to do? Quit showbiz? Go on a long vacation? Allow oneself to be wooed by an ardent lover—preferably one much younger? Annette Bening is just the right age for this part—or just the wrong age for most actresses when their fading beauty forces them to have to settle for either maternal roles and character parts or unemployment. Annette appears haggard, as if Julia is losing her looks, and then, as Annette proved in Valmont, her Julia can be truly selfish and mean-spirited—though Julia falls well short of Valmont’s deviously malicious Marquise de Merteuil. Then flirtatiously flatter Julia’s ego, and she giggles like a kittenish schoolgirl. Through it all, Annette makes us sympathize with her character even when she is less than likable. It doesn’t hurt in keeping the audience in her corner that Annette still looks terrific—at least, it doesn’t hurt my appreciation of her—and retaining the audience’s loyalty is essential for the story to work.

It also doesn’t hurt that the great Michael Gambon has the plum role of Jimmy Langton, Julia’s dearly departed mentor on all things theatrical, who, as the film’s one-man Greek chorus, manages to be both spectral and larger-than-life. Gambon hits just the right notes to make his over-the-top pronouncements both robustly comedic and slyly wise.

The catalyst for the more down-to-earth story is Shaun Evans’s Tom Fennel. Fennel is a young, ambitious American whose financial wizardry—especially with taxes—has gotten him a toehold in the front office of the theatre. Impressing managing director Michael earns him an introduction to the theatre’s star Julia. The handsome Tom manages to ingratiate his way inside the protective barrier Julia has erected to repel the usual adoring sycophants. Soon his youthful, seemingly innocent pronouncements of long-simmering admiration have returned a schoolgirl’s flush to Julia’s face despite the fact that Tom is only slightly older than her own son Roger. Evans is something of a weak link in this film. He needs to project three things to be completely credible: (1) a handsomeness that makes him appealing to the opposite sex, (2) a rather obvious duplicitous insincerity, and (3) a roguish charm. However, as a line in an old Meat Loaf song reminds us: two out of three ain't bad. Tom lacks the charm to be a first-rate cad and being a second- or third-rate cad makes him just plain despicable. He does show his caddishness fairly early on by making a play for the beautiful aspiring actress Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch) during a weekend outing at Michael and Julia’s summer house.

Avice is eager to become a star and uses the time-tested formula of making a friend and then making connections with important friends of the new friend. She is not averse to granting sexual favors since one favor can beget another. Soon there is a complicated set of interlocking romantic and professional rivalries. Lucy Punch, a fresh-faced English rose of a blonde, comes off differently than Shaun Evans. While her character is desperate to climb the theatre career ladder, her fair-haired beauty and charming naiveté make her actions seem less the result of calculated manipulations and more the result of spontaneously innocent opportunism. Avice could be played as a cold-hearted vixen, but Lucy’s Avice comes without an awareness of how her actions hurt others. Considering that we are immersed into the actor’s universe in which deception is a way of life, this Avice seems a playfully innocent mischief-maker. Her sunny comedic character keeps the film buoyant.

While the various romantic and professional entanglements do eventually take center stage, the film has a series of other colorful characters: Miriam Margolyes’s lonely lesbian financial backer Dolly de Vries, desperate for a snippet of private time with Julia; Juliet Stevenson’s loyal dresser Evie, sardonically observing everyone’s machinations; Bruce Greenwood’s charming patron of the arts Lord Charles; and Maury Chaykin’s proprietary playwright Walter Gibbs. These help flesh out the theatre community.

A lot of the film’s fleshing out is done by a slew of talents who remain off-camera even if their work isn’t. There has been excellent work done in finding suitable locations in Hungary and the United Kingdom. The work of the production designer, art director, and set decorators is superb in transporting the audience to the 1930s. Period pieces also demand that the costume designer be a major player in recreating period and the rarefied atmosphere of theatre glitterati demand being dressed in period haute couture. The soundtrack has original music that helps to effectively establish the mood, but it is also sprinkled with delightful classic jazz tunes that set the period and add immeasurably to the entertainment value of the film.

The bulk of the film is, of course, Julia’s journey in coming to terms with what her life is and what she must make of it. This journey will literally take her home to Jersey in the Channel Islands to visit her mother (Rosemary Harris) and aunt (Rita Tushingham). Julia eventually realizes that she is, of course, an actress. We suspect that Julia is up to something, but she doesn’t tip her hand too soon. If we may paraphrase a familiar phrase, the film shows us that all is fair not only in love and war, but also in box office success.

Being Julia is not a great film, but it is a clever and slightly irreverent film. It is fun, has generally serviceable ensemble acting—despite a tendency for overacting in the play-within-the-film sequences—has a strong central performance by Annette Bening, effectively establishes its period, and delivers what I call quality fluff. Don’t be surprised if Annette Bening gets some consideration during the upcoming awards season. I think she definitely deserves nomination for a Best Actress Golden Globe in the Comedy or Musical category.  

 

5 1/2" x 5" 2008 Wolf Moon Calendar just $10.00 each
More Info

More Info

© Wolf Moon Press 2002-2008 all rights reserved.

Submission Guidelines