''Being Julia'' (2004 movie)- Review

Directed by: István Szabó
Released: 2004
Country: Canada, United States

Genres: Comedy-Drama

Main cast: Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Shaun Evans, Lucy Punch, Juliet Stevenson, Miriam Margolyes, Tom Sturridge, Rosemary Harris, Rita Tushingham, Michael Gambon

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review

The titular character of Being Julia, played by the elegant Annette Bening, is as excellently written as it is performed by Bening, and it is a combination of both the crafting of the character and the performance of Bening that makes the character so memorable and the film so magnificent. The protagonist, Julia, is the heart of  István Szabó's Being Julia; this unique character is extremely memorable and can be described with a variety of adjectives: sweet, amiable, talented, famous, lovely, and, of course, foxy.

Julia is sweet. Among the above adjectives, all suit her properly, except perhaps ''foxy''. The character is sly, but that is, in fact, sweetly sly. She is a celebrity, a famous theater personality, on whom many young men have crushes. A young man seems to be obsessed with her. And she falls in love with the young man. And then, she finds out that the man is not what he seems. Instead, he is a cunning person who is just using her. And then, she uses her intelligence and wit to take a magnificent revenge.

Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is a successful stage actress, famous and respected all around. In her early 40s, she and her husband Michael (Jeremy Irons), are not quite in love. She meets Tom (Shaun Evans), a man who seems to be a great fan of hers. And then she becomes obsessed with Tom. She loves him deeply, though he is much, much younger than her.  And then she comes to know that he does not, in fact, care for her as deeply. And in course of time, she understands that he, in fact, loves the ambitious actress Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), and is just using the power of Julia to make Avice have a successful career on stage.

Initially heartbroken, Julia, however, then plans up a magnificent revenge upon those people for whom she feels she was wronged, who brought tears to her eyes. Avice Crichton, meanwhile, will be acting with her on a play. And on the night when the performance of the play will be held, a great surprise awaits for all.

Being Julia provides smart and effective entertainment. As I mentioned previously, the titular character is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive aspects of the film. Annette Bening gives us an excellent performance; a truly great performance, that, along with the sublimity of the screenplay, gives an excellent heart to the novel. While the character can be sad, cheerful, melodramatic, lovely, loverly, it can also, as the story goes on to tell us, be clever and sly to achieve what she deserves.

The situation is also built up quite well. The graceful cinematography cannot be forgotten easily. The beautiful cinematography can be easily understood by examining some of the scenes of the film. For instance, the scene where Julia and her friend Lord Charles (Bruce Greenwood) walk on the bridge. The proximity of the camera to the two characters' face, and also, the style of the cinematography in this scene, is utterly beautiful.

Other things, for example, the ghostly presence of the dead Jimmie Langton (Michael Gambon), who always advises Julia what to do, gets disappointed when she does something silly, and appreciates when she is successful, is quite memorable. 

Of course, the supporting cast is also quite great. Jeremy Irons as Michael, Julia's husband, gives an effective performance. Shaun Evans (as Tom) and Lucy Punch (as Avice) also give memorable performance. More remarkably Lucy Punch, of course. Without her superb performance, the film would have lost much of it's entertaining part (especially in the scene of the opening of the play, both Bening and Punch gave tremendously effective and hilarious performances). As Julia's son, Tom Sturridge is quite good. Others, such as Juliet Stevenson, are good as well!

And lastly- such a magnificent, such a wonderful film! It is cheerful, witty, sometimes melodramatic, and finally, a very good movie. It brought a big smile to my face!

4 out of 5!