Julia (1977)

A brilliantly acted masterpiece that thrives on a long time personal conflict many have with idealism versus self indulgence. Lillian Hellman, played by Jane Fonda, is unable to celebrate the thrill of her life time, success as a Broadway writer, as she looks at what's going on in the world, and attempts to ease her conscious by being drawn into European resistance by her longtime friend. Jason Robards plays Dashiell Hammett, her personal success encouragement. Vanessa Redgrave is her friend Julia, the other side of her personal dilemma. Also, the sets are exquisite. The acting is top notch.

Fmovies: The great thing about the more liberated cinema we got in the 60s and 70s, was not just that it could be more frank about sex, violence and the like, but that stories of a bleaker nature could be told without the need for a cosy happy ending. Not that the glee and glamour of classic Hollywood is something I disapprove of – far from it – but cinema, like all things, needs a bit of the darkness to make the light worthwhile. With this adaptation of Lillian Hellmond's semi-fictional memoir, we have one of the rare masterpieces of harrowing cinema.

To make something like this work, you need a really superlative cast, and fortunately Julia features some of the best of their era. Jane Fonda is one of those performers who just has such an effortless realism about her. She gives an impression that she is really living that life, more convincingly than the finest method actors, and yet she is also as captivating as the most theatrical of players. Maximilian Schell gives a short but memorable performance, putting on an act of tender shyness, beneath which lies a real sense of urgency. Jason Robards gives a kind of stable anchor to the movie, confidently playing the one major character slightly to one side of events. Vanessa Redgrave gives a delightfully mysterious turn, with this continual eager, earnest look in her eyes, as if she is perpetually on the brink of laughter or tears. And this is very apt for a picture of such uncertainty and emotional turmoil.

This was one of the final pictures of director Fred Zinnemann, an old pro whose quiet, thoughtful style had survived amid the new generation of filmmakers. And he shows the benefit of years of experience. Never afraid to break the cinematic conventions, Zinnemann opens the first flashback with three close-ups, the young Julia, the young Lily and then a profile of Julia's grandmother. This odd sequence of shots nevertheless engages us instantly, impressing the characters upon us and, with the shot of the grandmother, giving us a hint of her character and the context these girls are in. In contrast with those heartfelt close-ups, at other times his camera is agonizingly far from the action. When Fonda visits Julia at the hospital, the camera stays at the foot-end of the bed, refusing to give us a closer shot of Redgrave – as would be conventional. Zinnemann is also very good at covertly planting a thought in our heads with something that looks innocuous. For example, when Fonda wakes up and notices Julia is gone, a soldier walks across the shot, giving us the idea that perhaps something sinister is going on, without actually stating anything.

But none of this would be anything without the right story. Hellmand's work, adapted for the screen by Alvin Sargent, is simply exquisite. The flashback structure, so often a cliché, does not just serve to give the story background, it supports the main line of narrative. Lily's reminiscences have such passion and life that it seems Julia is saved through them, as if past and present could almost co-exist. Julia is a story of devastating effect on many levels. It is the telling of a horrendous chapter of history on a most personal, intimate level, a painful tale of loss and regret, and yet also one of the most moving studies of love and friendship ever created.

Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave continued their streak of formidable roles with "Julia". Lillian Hellman (Jane Fonda) was childhood friends with affluent Julia (Vanessa Redgrave). Julia has since abandoned her wealth and devoted her life to fighting Fascism. She is currently helping the resistance movements in Europe. Lillian decides to bring some American currency to help Julia in her struggles. While in Europe, she can certainly see the imprint of Nazism.

This movie does a masterful job not only showing the takeover by the Nazis, but it also puts some other things in perspective. Since I saw it a few days before the US invaded Iraq, I got the feeling of a similarity in that way. Maybe the fact that someone in my dormitory was playing a somber song on the piano (it may have been the "Schindler's List" theme music) also contributed to that. But either way, the perfect direction, script, cinematography, and performances by Fonda and Redgrave, plus Jason Robards Jr as Dashiell Hammett and Maximilian Schell as Julia's friend Johann, make this a perfect movie.

Julia fmovies. Julia (1977) Starring Jane Fonda as playwright Lillian Hellman and Vanessa Redgrave (controversially winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) as a longtime childhood friend. Meryl makes the most of her miniscule part as an upper-class snob acquaintance of Ms. Fonda's. Basically it's a story of a friendship. Redgrave's character, born into privilege, becomes part of the Resistance movement in World War II torn Europe while Fonda fights her own political battles in America while becoming a famous playwright.

The story focuses on an episode near the end of the friends' lives, when Fonda goes to Europe to visit Redgrave, now completely consumed in underground resistance activities and (summoning up bravery of her own) smuggles in money to support the underground movement.

The movie succeeds on several levels. The cinematography, though shot in color, successfully evokes a world of muddied browns, shadows and murkiness. The screenplay, based on Hellman's own memoir is translated well, capitalizing on Hellman's unique talent for imbuing simple moments with heroic significance. The personal drama of the friendship is heightened against the intrigue and always threatening possibilities of war.

Julia provides a rare opportunity to see two female characters conducting their lives not as appendages of men, but as independent protagonists. Furthermore, social relationships, both on a personal and political level, are presented, for a change, from a woman's point of view. Though not a Streep showcase, it is a compelling movie that will haunt you.

Fred Zinnemann's last great movie. Based on part of Lillian Hellman's memoir, the film stars Jane Fonda as Hellman as she recounts her friendship with the enigmatic JULIA, played by Vanessa Redgrave. Fonda is a bit too pretty to be entirely convincing as the homely Hellman, but she gives a gutsy performance, playing well with Redgrave and, to a greater degree, Jason Robards, who plays Dashell Hammett. Alvin Sargent's screenplay cleverly bends time, jumping back and forth as the story of Hellman's friendship with Julia is told. Zinnemann creates a melancholy feel that's sustained throughout. The movie has a deliberate pace not usually allowed in Hollywood. The excellent music by Georges Delerue is haunting and the cinematography by the under-appreciated Douglas Slocombe is beautiful. The supporting cast features Maximillian Schell, Cathleen Nesbitt as Julia's grandmother, Meryl Streep, Rosemary Murphy as Dorothy Parker and Hal Holbrook as Parker's husband Alan Campbell. They're all terrific with the exception of Holbrook, who tries to convey a witty raconteur, but only makes Campbell out to be a real jerk.

Just cast an eye at the credits (Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximillian Schell, Hal Holbroke, Meryl Streep, John Glover and others directed by Fred Zinneman in a story by Lillian Hellman) and you know this film is worth seeing. It delivers fabulous performances by some of the best actors of our time, in a carefully -- yeah, sumptuously -- produced film directed by one of Hollywood's most respected veterans, based on a narrative by a gifted dramatist and tale-spinner.

The screenplay blends the two longest episodes in Lillian Hellman's PENTIMENTO, the third, most engaging, and most imaginative of her memoirs. It traces the (largely factual) struggle of Hellman to develop her talents as a playwright under the tutelage of her long-time lover, Dashiell Hammett, and the (largely fictional) course of her friendship with an anti-Nazi activist. The character of Julia seems to be part fantasy, part composite of women Hellman admired.

The film suffers from this blend of fact and fiction and even more from the episodic nature of the intermixed stories. In addition (and to its credit), it does not minimize Hellman's famously abrasive personality. But the characters are so compelling, the performances so outstanding, and the pacing so canny that it holds the viewer's interest for a full two hours.

A flawed but fascinating flick!