{"id":4251,"date":"2009-04-30T23:55:55","date_gmt":"2009-05-01T07:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2009-05-04T21:58:07","modified_gmt":"2009-05-05T05:58:07","slug":"julia-fred-zinneman-1977-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=4251","title":{"rendered":"Julia (Fred Zinneman, 1977): USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Byron Potau<\/a>.\u00a0 Viewed on DVD.<\/p>\n

\"\"Fred Zinneman\u2019s 1977 film Julia<\/a><\/em> is interesting for a several reasons.\u00a0 It was a highly nominated and awarded film in its day, it was supposedly based on true events in Lillian Hellman\u2019s life which has since been disputed by some, and it features real life characters Hellman and her longtime lover: hard boiled, detective fiction writer, Dashiell Hammett.<\/p>\n

The story begins with Lillian (Jane Fonda) trying to write a play and struggling with it.\u00a0 She decides she might have more luck writing somewhere else and heads to Paris, hoping to see her childhood friend Julia (Vanessa Redgrave).\u00a0 There are flashbacks to Lillian and the slightly older Julia as they spend time together at Julia\u2019s wealthy grandparents’ estate.\u00a0 Even at a young age Julia is willful, and is disgusted with the treatment of the lower classes by her wealthy family.\u00a0 A young Lillian does not quite share the same disgust or selflessness as her friend, but does support her.\u00a0 When Lillian is in Europe she sees pre-war hostilities beginning and she discovers Julia, a medical student in Vienna, has been badly beaten when her school is viciously attacked.\u00a0 Lillian stays with Julia in the hospital until she is mysteriously moved.\u00a0 Unable to locate Julia, Lillian returns to the States and finishes her play, which Dashiell recommends she burn because of its mediocrity.\u00a0 Lillian begins again and eventually finishes what comes to be The Children\u2019s Hour.\u00a0 After getting Dashiell\u2019s approval, she publishes her play and becomes the toast of the town.\u00a0 When her celebrity earns her an invitation to the Russian theater, Julia, who has become an anti Nazi, asks Lillian to smuggle money into Berlin, which she and her group plan to bribe Nazis for the lives of many of her associates including several Jews.<\/p>\n

Whether this story is true or if it was lifted from someone else\u2019s life (which is the claim), it is an intriguing and suspenseful story and is well written and acted.\u00a0 Jane Fonda gives a strong performance as the persistent, but fragile Lillian who, early in life, seeks approval from Julia and later from Hammett, and her performance gains strength as the film goes on.\u00a0 Though Jason Robards Jr. received his second consecutive Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as Dashiell Hammett, it was, at the time, a little overrated.\u00a0 Robards does give a solid, mannered performance, but needed a little more to do in the film.\u00a0 The film\u2019s best performance is given by Vanessa Redgrave as Julia, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.\u00a0 Her enchanting smile works wonderfully as the fa\u00e7ade of a much stronger woman who is able to make sacrifices for what she believes in.\u00a0 She is able to convey her character\u2019s intelligence and courage in an excellent scene where she cherishes the few moments she has with Lillian while keeping her composure for the both of them, and finishing the business at hand.\u00a0 Like Robards, she and the film could have benefited from more scenes, but she is still able to give an excellent portrayal.\u00a0 A nomination more difficult to explain is that of Maximilian Schell, who received a Supporting Actor Nomination.\u00a0 Not that he is bad, but he is just barely there, having only a few brief scenes as an associate of Julia\u2019s who meets with Lillian.\u00a0 This seems to be more a testament to the lack of potential nominees than anything else.\u00a0 In a stronger year Julia might not be as highly awarded or nominated as it was, but it is still a good film in any year, and worth the watch if the story and characters intrigue you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Byron Potau.\u00a0 Viewed on DVD. Fred Zinneman\u2019s 1977 film Julia is interesting for a several reasons.\u00a0 It was a highly nominated and awarded film in its day, it was supposedly based on true events in Lillian Hellman\u2019s life which has since been disputed by some, and it features real life characters Hellman and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvd","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}