Being Julia

Julie, or rather Annette Bening, is just divine here, giving a great performance as an ageing theatre actress at the peak of her career. This adaptation of the play titled “Theatre" is really worth seeing, mainly due to the actors, because nothing special really happens story-wise, although the ending certainly works well. Even the directing by István Szabó seems like a record of a sumptuous theatre performance, which in this case is positive. (12/18/2005)

The story of the life of London theater diva Julia Lambert, starring Annette Bening. The setting of the theatrical production and the social elite provides an opportunity to portray the atmosphere of 1939, which is entirely interested in the stories of individual characters and not distracted by politics. Julie is a dominant and modern woman who at first thinks about a theatrical holiday, but then, thanks to a young lover and the subsequent disappointment of her relationship with him, she hatches a plan that will not only satisfy her in her personal life but also bring her outstanding new success on the stage. At the same time, we can follow the story of her gay boyfriend, her husband with whom she maintains a friendly marriage, and the daring Avice Crichton counting on a theatrical career gained through sex. This modern story with an appeal to the uniqueness of a mature woman can serve as an example of healthy emancipation even today. In a sense, it may remind us of another famous role of Annette Bening - the Marquise de Merteuil from Forman's Valmont (1989). It's also interesting how many actors Szabó intertwines in both Being Julia and Sunshine - Miriam Margolyes and Rosemary Harris, for example. (03/28/2009)

Dear, although perhaps a bit too playful (but that is, to a certain extent, a flaw of the genre), it is surprisingly not refreshed by the somewhat strained Anette Bening, but rather by the excellent male actors around her, especially Irons, who is traditionally excellent. It occurred to me that it might be a shame that the story is told from Julie's perspective. If Irons' Michael were the main character caught between two women and the film were presented as a drama (as seen with Irons in a twenty years younger version in "Swann in Love") with a side storyline of Julie, it would be better. The film has a terribly dull passage when Julie is expected to be abandoned and a lengthy part follows in which we are supposed to reach revenge with the heroine, which fortunately fulfills our expectations. I consider the final theater scene and what follows to be an amazing climax of the film, and if the plot had been slightly condensed, it could have been great. The excellent music also deserves praise, whether it's the impressive orchestral accompaniment or the well-executed jazz soundtrack. (03/29/2007)