BEING JULIA by István Szabó
December 26th, 2004 by Andre Soares
Being Julia (2004)
Direction: István Szabó. Screenplay: Ronald Harwood; from W. Somerset Maugham’s 1937 novella Theatre. Cast: Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Shaun Evans, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson, Lucy Punch, Michael Gambon, Sheila McCarthy, Leigh Lawson, Rosemary Harris, Rita Tushingham
A LITTLE ABOUT AVICE
In Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 Oscar-winning classic All About Eve, Bette Davis plays Margo Channing, a major Broadway star who, despite her talent and wit, falls prey to the ambitious wannabe Eve Harrington: sweet, soft-spoken Anne Baxter on the outside, ruthless, poisonous gargoyle on the inside. More than a decade earlier, in 1937 to be exact, W. Somerset Maugham had written a novella about a West End star, the stage diva Julia Lambert. Julia, despite her talent and wit, succumbs to her vanity when she falls madly in love with a handsome — and deceptively innocent-looking — American half her age. Through this young American’s "special friendship" with Julia, an ambitious young actress, Avice Crichton, will attempt to jumpstart her career by getting a crucial role in Julia’s next play.
With a cast that includes Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, and veterans Rosemary Harris and Rita Tushingham, and with renowned director István Szabó (whose 1982 Mephisto won a best foreign-language film Oscar) at the helm, Being Julia should, at the very least, be half as good as All About Eve.
Unfortunately, Julia is indeed only half as good as Eve — partly because of Ronald Harwood’s uninspired screenplay adaptation (if the source material was already weak, Harwood surely didn’t make it all that much better) and partly because Szabó’s comedy timing feels more than a bit off.
Even so, by being half as good as the 1950 classic while providing Annette Bening with one of the best roles of her career, this slightly backhanded paean to the theater world is still more enjoyable than most of what gets made nowadays.
Synopsis:
London, 1938. The middle-aged Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is a temperamental West End star at the top of her powers as an actress. Her faithful theatrical manager (and sometime stage director), Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons), also happens to be her husband, but their relationship could hardly be described as passionate.
Julia is in desperate need of some excitement in her personal life. That comes in the form of a young American, Tom Fennell (Shaun Evans), who describes himself as Julia’s biggest fan. At first, Julia is barely polite with him. He is just one more admirer in a line of millions. But when he seduces her — or rather, her vanity — while the two are having tea at his flat, Julia loses whatever common sense she had. She falls madly in love with this man half her age, while needing to be frequently reassured that he feels the same way about her. Her longtime friend and admirer, Lord Charles (Bruce Greenwood), tells her that such affairs — older woman, younger man — never end well, but Julia refuses to believe him.
As to be expected, the callow Tom soon transfers his affections to a younger woman, the ambitious Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), a small-time actress who believes that Julia can be her ticket to big-time stardom. Avice knows of Tom’s friendship with the renowned actress, and insists that he get Julia to put in a good word for her in the casting of Julia’s new play. During her audition, Avice fakes a sneeze so well that she leaves a lasting — and profound — impression on Michael, the director of the play.
Realizing that her career, her marriage, and her self-esteem are all at stake, Julia sets out to give her greatest performance ever — both during rehearsals and on opening night.
Notes:
W. Somerset Maugham’s novel Theatre was first dramatized by Guy Bolton and Maugham himself in 1941. The play starred Cornelia Otis Skinner and Arthur Margetson.
Lilli Palmer and Charles Boyer starred in a 1962 Franco-Austrian version named Julia, Du bist zauberhaf / Adorable Julia directed by Alfred Weidenmann. Viya Artmane and Gunar Tsilinsky played Julia Lambert and Michael Gosselyn in the 1978 Russian film Teatr, directed by Janis Streics.
A 1960 made-for-TV German version, Bezaubernde Julia, was directed by Wilm ten Haaf and starred Albrecht Schoenhals and Anneliese Born. There is also a 1988 made-for-TV French version directed by Yves-André Hubert.
LES SOEURS FÂCHÉES / ME AND MY SISTER
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
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For those of you who dont know who Jeremy Irons is, I just want to strait out put it out there, he is the most sexiest most intelligent man I have ever seen on widescreen. In every movie that hes been a part of, hes absolutely captured my attention. I dont care how old he is, hes so freakin sexy especially that mesmorizing axcent.
For Mr. Irons,
Keep up with the great job and your sexy axcent. I love you!