DVD Reviews

Being Julia

Being Julia is the film brought Annette Bening back to the forefront with her first Oscar nomination since American Beauty.  It is about theatre life in the 30s, and if you don't like period pieces about life on stage, then stop reading now. But if you do, then this movie has some great moments and is worth watching. For everything good that adds to the value of the movie, there is something as equally bad that takes away from it.

First up, director István Szabó gives us one of the most beautiful looking films of last year.  The sets were shot in both Budapest and England, and their beauty is indescribable. However, the editing in this movie is choppy and flawed.  Having never seen the theatrical version, I'm not sure if this is just a problem on the DVD or part of the original film. Being Julia is based on a novella by W. Somerset Maugham, and the screenwriters achieve a dialogue of riches and a good balance of uncanny wit with the ultimate drama queen.  When Annette is playing Julia Lambert on stage, her performance is almost unwatchable, as is the movie when it focuses on the stage. When Annette is dealing with her mid-life crisis, fooling around with younger men and just being the diva that she is, she is spectacular, and once again so is the movie.  
 
A very intangible part of the movie sets in with Julia's on going dialogue with her muse, her dead drama coach. The rest of the supporting cast is an interesting mix; Jeremy Irons is actually better than expected as her pipe-puffing producer and husband of convenience. He might be her husband but Julia's love interest is twenty-something American Tom Fennel, played by Shaun Evans, who gives another strong performance. But as strong as those two are, characters like Lord Charles, played by Bruce Greenwood, and Evie, by Juliet Stevenson, come off more as accessories than actors.
 
As per the DVD Extras, the best offering is the deleted scenes package, which plays one right after the other, however there is no explanation. And my favourite of the scenes left out is when an autograph hound attacks Julia.

As for the other extras, "The Making of Julia" isn't terrible but feels like a half hour TV special where all the principal cast members share their feelings on the film. My favourite part is where Benning goes on about her favourite day of shooting the one where she was pampered and massaged all day. The commentary is pretty boring as is the behind the scenes feature, which focuses on the scenes of the filming.
 

Review By Corey Brown