(2012-05-01 03:02:36)

Lives of the saints

Fred Zimmerman's 1977 film based on one of the sections of Lillian Hellman's memoir PENTIMENTO has not aged so well, despite some lovely compositions and the undeniable star power of Jane Fonda as Lillian Hellman, Jason Robards as her lover Dashiell Hammett, and Vanessa Redgrave as the titular heroine, a wealthy young woman who was Lillian's best friend in childhood and has grown up to fight injustice in general and the Nazis in particular. The film was made with Hellman's assistance (that's the real Hellman in the rowboat fishing in the framing shots), and you can see why almost immediately. Both Lillian and Julia are basically enshrined in the film as ideal heroines, brave, brilliant, beautiful, and resolutely heterosexual. (Fonda decks John Glover for implying she and Julia are lesbians in one scene that seems specifically included to forestall the audience getting any funny ideas.) There's not much plot except for a long Ambleresque sequence where Hellman is sent into Germany to smuggle in money to bribe officials to save victims of the Nazis; it's much more interesting than the rest of the film, which mostly alternates scenes of the young Julia (the lovely Lisa Pelikan) being saintly alternating with Fonda sulking at the typewriter, trying to please Robards's hardbitten Hammett. There's been quite a bit of controversy whether Julia ever existed, whether she's a composite of women Hellman knew, or whether she was the famous psychiatrist Muriel Gardiner who shared a lawyer with Hellman (but whom Hellman herself never actually knew).

(2012-04-30 15:57:44)

A Movie for All Seasons

Having been much taken with "Julia" upon its release in 1977, I was curious if I would be so enthralled by it over thirty years later. It holds up very well indeed. Starring Jane Fonda as the writer Lillian Hellman and directed by Fred Zinnemann ("A Man for All Seasons") it is based on a story taken supposedly from Hellman's memoir PENTIMENTO although Reynolds Price in his latest memoir ARDEN SPIRITS accuses Hellman of "purloining" incidents from the life of Muriel Gardiner Buttinger. At any rate the story of what happens to Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) and her fight against fascism in the 1930's makes for high drama of the first order. Both Redgrave and Jason Robards, who plays Dash Hammett, Hellman's lover, both received Oscars for their performances. Maximilian Schell and Hal Holbrook have minor roles, and Meryl Streep has a few lines as well. This seems to me to be Jane Fonda at her best-- she looks terribly young and beautiful-- before she started playing herself as so often happens to actors as they get older. Certainly she is in good company here: think Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson as two examples. Oh, and Redgrave, never one to shun controversy, is just as famous-- or infamous, depending on your point of view-- for her "Zionist" remarks in her Oscar acceptance speech as she is for this very fine performance. The film opens and closes with the same peaceful scene with voice over from Hellman's memoir. A really fine movie indeed.

(2012-04-29 20:47:57)

Don't miss this one!

This review is from: Julia (DVD) One of the last great films of that remarkable era of film-making--the 1970's--"Julia" stands the test of time as a testament to heroism in drastic times of collusion much like our own. We know the bad guys but think we are too weak to stop them--to make a difference--but the story of "Julia" gives us strength to at least try. I was about to say the films of today do not have this power, but after experiencing the power of some of this year's extraordinary films like "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Syrianna" I find hope in the modern arena. Keep the faith.

(2012-04-29 09:41:28)

Compelling, wonderful film

I remember when seeing two women together, supporting and caring for each other was very, very rare. The most compelling part in this movie is where Lillian and Julia meet in the cafe. Julia tells Lillian that she has named her daughter for her. Julia finally reaches over and puts her hand on Lillian's and says "My beloved friend. Go!" Yet another potent reminder of the courage of the Resistance fighters in the face of Nazi terror. Jason Robards is incredible, and for those of us who grew up near Long Island beaches, it's a wonderful recollection of them. Buy it for your daughters.

McGuffin-3

(2012-04-27 19:43:55)

Sensitive portrayal of great heroines.

This fine film is charged with energy and drama. Fonda portrays the essenceof Lillian Hellman's idealism with great verve, understanding, andsensitivity. The film is an accurate adaptation of Hellman's story of herfriend Julia and her involvement with the European resistance movement ofthe 1930s, as Hellman reminiscences in her book, Pentimento (1973). Hellmanwas among those hunted in real life by Senator Joseph McCarthy'santicommunist witch-hunt investigations of the 1950s. She refused to namenames, stating in a letter to the Chairman of the House Committee onun-American Activities, "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit thisyear's fashions" (May 19, 1952). The film is a magnificent portrait of twocourageous women unwilling to compromise their beliefs and values. JasonRobards is superb as novelist Dashiell Hammett, with whom Hellman had alife-long relationship until his death in 1961.

lordhack_99

(2012-04-27 07:38:53)

If only any part of this tale were true.

Mary McCarthy, penniless but under threat of a lawsuitbyHellman for daring to suggest that this story was justthat,proved the case, digging down to minutiae like railroadtimetables. Hellman's career, which just happened to beginback when her husband Dashiell Hammett's stopped, was putintopermanent eclipse. Still, the film as film is excellent. Just remember thatit is self-serving hogwash from Hellman.

(2012-04-27 09:36:46)

Julia

A wistful, compelling story about the power of female bonds and friendship. Fonda has never been better, Redgrave is luminous as the idealistic Julia, and Jason Robards conveys a worn assuredness as Hellman's husband, writer Dashiell Hammett. Zinnemann's handling of period detail in 1930s New York and Berlin is exquisite, and the film rightfully earned 11 Oscar nominations. A personal favorite.

SimonJack

(2012-04-26 22:13:59)

A film not to Hellman's credit

Author and playwright Lillian Hellman surely gave us some wonderfulstories and plays for stage and film in the early to middle 20thcentury. But, this was not one of them. Indeed, its claim to be a storyof her own experience from WWII has since been shown to be untrue.Shortly after the film's release, Hellman was proved to have piratedthe story from another writer. Soon, a number of other people attestedto her falsehoods about several claims she had made about herself. Formore on this, see any of several bios of Hellman online, including theIMDb accounts, Wikipedia and some other more detailed accounts. It seems as though Hellman may have become too enamored with herselfover time. Indeed, some more revealing historical accounts of her lifehave shown more intimidating times of her past. She opposed politicalasylum in the U.S. for some early Russian communist leaders whilegiving unashamed support for Joseph Stalin — even knowing of hisexecution of many Russians.So, what about the film, "Julia?" The fact that Hellman did notexperience this so-called chapter in her life may be why it comesacross as so poorly scripted. And why the actor playing her, seems sodubious in the role. This should be apparent to anyone who knew muchabout Hellman and her feisty, self-assured, at times belligerentcharacter. If Fonda was playing Hellman, then Hellman didn't even gether own character right. That, or the script was written without thepassion that someone who really experienced it would have known. Eitherway, it really showed in the choppy and abrupt changes of scenes. The story could have been one of great intrigue, but for thedistractions caused by the poor scripting and almost droll acting byFonda. I can't imagine that a number of the silly moments offorgetfulness by Fonda would be in the script. What was Hellmanthinking? To what purpose? Fonda's forgetting to leave the box ofchocolates on the train, forgetting to put on the hat, and a few othersuch incidents of memory loss were quite glaring considering that thesewere covered with such explicit instructions for her. All thatforgetfulness just made me focus on how little the main person(Hellman/Fonda) paid attention to her friend Julia; and how simple-minded she could be. She just didn't seem to grasp the reality of whatwas going on around her. Could that have been the intended portrayal ofthe Fonda role? Hellman writing Hellman to be such a dumb ox — I doubtit. All of the acting was not poor. Indeed, Vanessa Redgrave was excellentas Julia. But that the film received so many other Oscar nominations,including one for Fonda as best actress, only reflects the poor qualityof films from Hollywood for the year. Only a handful of movies competedfor most of the major awards, and none of them were great films.Compare 1977 to most years in the previous four decades when many, manyfilms competed in different categories, including those years when oneor two huge blockbusters ran away with the bulk of awards. (Look at1962, for instance. Nearly two dozen films got Oscar nominations, and adozen truly great films competed for top honors.)As I said at the start, Lillian Hellman gave us some great and enduringstories in her time. But in her later years she seemed to give way to atype of grandiosity that had her writing completely fabricated eventsfrom her life in her autobiography. Her last few years were not proudones for this once great writer as the truth about her fabricationsbecame widely known. It's interesting to me that in 1977, Hollywoodwould still put this film out with a claim to its authenticity as livedby Hellman, in the face of the public challenges that had been made. Itwould still have been okay as a piece of fiction or otherwise; but thepoor scripting and poor acting by the main character just leaves thisas a mediocre film.My six stars are for the lone top performance by Lynn Redgrave and forthe intrigue that was still able to be felt in spite of the actingdistractions and script shortcomings.

(2012-04-21 07:52:51)

One of the BEST films from the 70's

I must have seen "Julia " over 20 times,and I never get tired of it.Fonda and Redgrave are great,along with Jason Robards.Its amazing this is a true story about a period in Lilian Hellman's life,and what a heroic task she did for her friend,Julia.If you have never seen this movie,please make it a point to, about a time in our history we should never forget.

(2012-04-20 17:11:35)

Actually, 0 Stars Because...

...I haven't bought the DVD yet. Loved/still love the movie as it was. But please don't just write movie reviews. I would primarily like to hear about shipping satisfaction and whether or not you think the DVD format/editing/quality etc. are to your expectations. Did you accidentally buy widescreen and want to warn others not to if they don't like letter-boxing? I ask reviewers to please remember to include product information. Thanks.

jp1713

(2012-04-19 08:11:58)

eh...

JULIA's pretensions unfortunately outshine its intentions. honestly, itplods along and i agree with a previous poster: fonda's overacting isatrocious at times - the scene where she throws out her typewriter wascanned at best.yes, fascism is "bad." and yes, there were some who resisted and fought.yes yes yes.but to couch it in such terms doesn't even come close to the complexitiesofthe times. in fact, it's rather OVER simplified; i'm thinking here of thesimple-minded visual metaphor of lilly as a girl trying (in vain) to crossthe log... yes, we get it. at least i did. half way through, ask yourself if JULIA is in the same ballpark as THECONFORMIST. ask yourself on second thought, if it's even in the sameleague...

sol-

(2012-04-18 18:02:45)

My brief review of the film

A fairly glossy, good-looking period film, with apt sets and costumesas one would expect, and a haunting atmosphere thanks to some excellentbits of music, the film is nevertheless jarred by the way it changestone. It begins as a drama, but then it turns into a thriller in thesecond half, and does not really revert back. This leaves open thequestion of whether there was any point to the first half of the filmat all. It does not help to understand the characters any better, andin fact they all seem rather shallow the whole time. Jane Fonda hassome good moments, but she also has a tendency to go over-the-top nowand again. Robards and Redgrave won Oscars for their performances, butit is hard to see why against the other nominees. The best actingmoments belong to Maximilian Schell as the mysterious Mr. Johann, butSusan Jones, who plays Fonda's character as a youth, also deserves amention. The train sequences are admittedly exciting, but the scenesthat are shown before the film there are only questionably necessary.It is not a great film overall, but it is a good one.

(2012-04-17 05:23:51)

JANE & VANESSA AT THEIR BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have seen this film many times and each time it's new. Jane is so real playing nervous when being searched on the train! Even though I know the outcome Istill squirm in my seat--thats a great proformance--

(2012-04-16 15:24:23)

Great Acting by Great Actors

Regrave and Fonda both get knocked because of their political views, but get over it and see this little gem if you haven't. The film showcases what great actors they both are; really a neglected classic American film.

(2012-04-11 19:52:21)

Amazing motion picture!

This review is from: Julia (DVD) Julia is simply a perfect movie. Jane Fonda's performance is one of her very best. And Fred Zinnemann's direction is flawless. Alvin Sargent's screenplay movements between past and present and from present to future are so smooth and fascinating. Just a brilliant movie all around. Beth

Cyrn

(2012-04-11 01:51:08)

One of the Most Compelling Trainrides of Cinema

I'm no fan of either leads' politics and found it ironic that MissHellman actually disputed the movie depicting her having searched forJulia's baby- when in fact, virtually the entire plot was MissHellman's fiction. She'd never even met the 'real' Julia (one Dr.Muriel Gardiner) nor did 'Julia'/Dr. Gardiner have any baby in the1930's but Miss Hellman undoubtedly admired the work Dr. Gardiner didand wished she could have been a part of that. This movie and the bookMiss Hellman wrote that it was based on would be more of awish-fullfillment than anything. All that said,though, it was quite a great testament to the power offriendship (and that's ALL it was but that alone was strong enough)that saw Lillian seek out acceptance and accolades in the very societythat she'd first been dazzled by via her girlhood visits with Julia-yet this aerified society was exactly what Julia herself would spendher entire life fleeing and trying to do right by the larger world.Strange that even in their girlhood, the cars and wardrobe was depictedas being no earlier than the 1920's- yet the movie makes it clear thatat least 20 years had elapsed when everything came to a head c.1938!So many unanswered questions raised here! Why were Julia's grandparentsand mother so estranged from her that they refused to recognize herbest friend or even acknowledge her death? Who was Mr. Johannes andwhat would he have done had Lillian not opted to volunteer for themission- even with her obnoxious friends trying to tag along/talk herout of it? Quite fitting that they used one of the last steam enginelocomotives from that time for that movie- the steam added to thesinister and mystery of the operation! What exactly did Lillian's traincompartment companions know about the mission and Lillian herself? Wasit more than just the importance of Lillian wearing the lambskin hatand using the fine chocolate bon-bons to divert the German Customs'attention? Who was it who removed the money from the lambskin hat whileshe and Julia were in the beer hall? The fact that these are fictionalcharacters doesn't mean these questions aren't worth pondering!What a remarkable reunion between the Lillian and Julia- as though theyboth knew they had so much to say to each other but too little time tosay it yet still were able to communicate more in that singleconversation than many friends who have a lifetime together! And aninteresting touch that the single trainride and meeting of Mr. Johannesseemed to have impacted Lillian even more than all the years she'dsurvive Julia and Dashell yet would continue to dominate her life!The only thing that brings it down any is Miss Hellman having pretendedher remarkable story was fact.

(2012-04-04 11:53:18)

Julia

Outstanding film. Jane Fonda is superb as Lillian Hellman and Jason Robards is his usual understated genious. Vanessa Redgrave is very good also. If you blink, you'll miss Meryl Streep in one of her earliest works. Her talent shows already. The historical and semi-biographical background is what attracted me to buy this film. Most highly recommended.Frances T.

(2012-04-03 21:22:11)

absolutely engrossing and wonderful movie

This review is from: Julia (DVD) Disregard stories about how Hellman cooked up this story and then passed it off as true. Or about Redgrave's protest at the Oscars. Both apparently true (certainly the second one is). Just see this movie because it's simply one of the best movies and stories of all time. The script and acting are both top-notch.

(2012-03-26 05:17:10)

"Beads On a Hot Dancer . . ."

This review is from: Julia (DVD) When I recently purchased the DVD of "Julia," I recalled these words uttered by Lilly and her friend Julia in their adolescent memory game; the image, from Hellman's book "Pentimento"--repeated in the film--is as vivid and unforgettable as is this splendid film, which has not dimmed with the passage of time. If anything, "Julia" has improved over the years, time having rendered the former controversies over the politics of Fonda and Redgrave and the truth or falsity of Hellman's narrative irrelevant.Every character in this film is finely delineated: Jane Fonda as the insecure chain-smoking author, Lillian; Vanessa Redgrave as her best friend in the title role [and the word "luminous," with which several reviewers characterize Redgrave's performance, does not constitute hyperbole]; Jason Robards as Lilly's gruff but tender mentor and lover; Maximilian Schell as Julia's impoverished anti-fascist go-between; and the two actresses who play Lilly and Julia as young girls. All are superb. "Julia" is arguably one of the best espionage films ever produced in Hollywood. The image of a transcontinental train hurtling through the snow-blown night, just as the world is hurtling headlong into war, evokes danger and guarantees entertainment of the highest calibre. Many Oscar-winning films nowadays are well acted but so depressing that one might not want to view them a second time. "Julia" is a keeper, especially at Amazon's ridiculously low price.

(2012-03-25 14:09:14)

A Story of Two Friends

This story traces the friendship of writer Lillian Hellmann and her friend Julia, from their times together as adolescents to their very different lives as adults. Jane Fonda is somewhat one-note as Hellmann, struggling to get her first play finished, feeling overshadowed by her lover, the great Dashiell Hammett, well played by Jason Robards. She also tries to keep contact with Julia, played by a glowing Vanessa Redgrave, as Julia becomes more and more mired in the tumultuous politics of 1930's Europe. Eventually, Fonda herself gets pulled into the political upheaval as she tries to help her friend out. There are a number of reasons why I liked the film. The production team does an excellent job of recreating the time period, giving the viewer a real sense of what it would have been like. I enjoyed the insight it gives to the writer's process and the frustrations that go with it. The "adventure" that Fonda goes on to get money to her friend is well played out dramatically, and their meeting is filled with unspoken words, a credit to the screenplay, the actresses, and the fine direction by veteran Fred Zinneman. I don't know how much of the story would prove to be true, but I think there are many truths in it.