1977’s Julia afforded Jane Fonda a nomination for a Best Actress Oscar and provided Vanessa Redgrave with an acting Oscar win, her only one out of seven nominations. The film is also notable for being the screen debut of Meryl Streep. My journey to see all Meryl Streep movies continues!
Julia tells the tale of two women who grew up as childhood friends and continued a close friendship through adulthood. Julia (Redgrave) comes from great wealth and is being raised by her grandparents in America. There she meets Lillian (Fonda) and the two seem to build an entire world around their unique friendship. The movie continually time shifts between the present day (the 1930s), their childhood past, and time periods in between the two.
After becoming a successful playwright, Lillian is invited to a writer’s conference in the USSR. Through intermediaries, Julia reaches out to Lillian to seek her assistance in sneaking money into the USSR. Julia is now working for the anti-Nazi resistance. Lillian eventually agrees to and embarks on a train ride to Berlin to see her longtime friend again. It is at this time that the film has its longest linear storytelling, and the film reaches its crescendo.
The acting is superb throughout, not only by the leads but by the outstanding international array of supporting actors including Jason Robards, Maximillion Schell, Rosemary Murphy, John Glover, Hal Holbrook, Elisabeth Mortenson, and the aforementioned Streep. Jane Fonda is reported to have told director Fred Zinnemen, “This one will go far”, referring to Streep! The cinematography is often breathtaking, and the film was awarded an Oscar nomination for it, along with costuming, editing, and musical score.
It is not a perfect film and suffers from the number of interlocking vignettes it tries to insert as a means of attempting to establish character and relationship development, as well as simply expanding the story beyond its suspenseful train journey. That said, it is still a wonderful piece of art and worthy of the Oscar nomination it received for Best Picture.
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