Last weekend for me can be summed up in one word — lazy. I didn’t get out of bed till noon, had lunch around 3PM and didn’t go out of the house, not even to my wonderful, sunny terrace. One of things I did do was to purchase a movie from Front Row Movies (after I rang Customer Service to remind myself of my PIN). The film I purchased was Being Julia.
Set in 1930s London, the film, directed by Istvan Szabo, is about the life of actress Julia Lambert at the peak of her career. Julia was played by the talented Annette Bening and I couldn’t think of anyone else who could have played it better. She had a charming British accent but there were times that her American accent just slipped through. Anyway, the film showed how she was knackered for being in the limelight that she asked her husband to end the running of her show at West End. Then her husband introduced her to Tom Fennell, a young American who claimed to be her greatest fan. Of course, she fed on the attention that Tom was giving her. It was sweet everytime she refers to him as T-O-M. To cut a long story short, she fell in love with him. He didn’t and he fell in love with a younger woman, Avice Chricton, who had dreams to become a big name herself in the acting world. Turns out that this girl was also having an affair with Julia’s husband and used that to advance her career. These affairs came to Julia’s knowledge through her son. And on the opening of a new play, she showed everyone who the real star was.
I particularly liked how Bening’s character was, in some ways, guided by Michael Gambon, who was playing Jimmie Langton, Julia Lambert’s dead mentor. Also loved the conversation between Julia and Lord Charles (played by Bruce Greenwood) where she spoke about this script that she was reading about a woman falling in love with a younger man. Lord Charles sort of got that she was talking about her real life so he said something that it was okay as long as no actual words of love were spoken. There was another interesting twist on Lord Charles when he visited her in Jersey while she was taking a break. “I love you but I’m on your side.” Meaning that he was gay!
Ah, I do recommend this film. I know it has been a while since it was out in the cinema. But the DVD has been released so I encourage you all to get a copy. I know I will!
My rating: * * * *
Buying the DVD? Yes!
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