Julia (1977 film)

Julia is a 1977 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann, from a screenplay by Alvin Sargent. It is based on Lillian Hellman's book Pentimento, a chapter of which purports to tell the story of her relationship with an alleged lifelong friend, "Julia," who fought against the Nazis in the years prior to World War II. The film was produced by Richard Roth, with Julien Derode as executive producer and Tom Pevsner as associate producer.

Julia was received positively from the critics and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnemann and Best Actressfor Jane Fonda. It ended up winning three awards, Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards, Best Supporting Actress for Vanessa Redgrave, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Alvin Sargent's script. Julia was the first film to win both supporting actor categories since The Last Picture Show six years earlier in 1971, and would be followed by Hannah and Her Sisters nine years later in 1986.

Contents

 * 1 Plot
 * 2 Cast
 * 3 Production
 * 4 Reception
 * 5 Awards
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links

Plot[edit]
The young Lillian and the young Julia, daughter of a wealthy family being brought up by her grandparents in the U.S., enjoy a childhood together and an extremely close relationship in late adolescence. Later, while medical student/physician Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) attends Oxford and the University of Vienna and studies with such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, Lillian (Jane Fonda), a struggling writer, suffers through revisions of her play with her mentor and sometime lover, famed author Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards) at a beachhouse.

After becoming a celebrated playwright, Lillian is invited to a writers' conference in Russia. Julia, having taken on the battle against Nazism, enlists Lillian en route to smuggle money through Nazi Germany which will assist in the anti-Nazi cause. It is a dangerous mission, especially for a Jewish intellectual on her way to Russia.

During a brief meeting with Julia on this trip, Lillian learns that her friend has a child named Lily, living with a baker in Alsace. Shortly after her return to the United States, Lillian is informed of Julia's murder. The details of her death are shrouded in secrecy. Lillian unsuccessfully looks for Julia's daughter in Alsace and also discovers that Julia's family wants nothing to do with the child, if she exists. They even pretend not to remember Lillian, clearly wanting to excise the embarrassment of Julia from their lives.

Cast[edit]

 * Jane Fonda as Lillian Hellman
 * Vanessa Redgrave as Julia
 * Jason Robards as Dashiell Hammett
 * Maximilian Schell as Johann
 * Hal Holbrook as Alan Campbell
 * Rosemary Murphy as Dorothy Parker
 * Meryl Streep as Anne Marie
 * John Glover as Sammy
 * Lisa Pelikan as Julia (younger)
 * Susan Jones as Lillian (younger)
 * Lambert Wilson as Walter Franz

Production[edit]
The film was shot on location in England and France. Although Lillian Hellman claimed the story was based on true events that occurred early in her life, the filmmakers later came to believe that most of it was fictionalized. Director Fred Zinnemann would later comment, "Lillian Hellman in her own mind owned half the Spanish Civil War, while Hemingway owned the other half. She would portray herself in situations that were not true. An extremely talented, brilliant writer, but she was a phony character, I'm sorry to say. My relations with her were very guarded and ended in pure hatred."[3]

Julia features the first film performances of Meryl Streep and Lisa Pelikan.

Reception[edit]
The film earned $13,050,000 in North American rentals.[4]

Awards[edit]
Academy Awards: Academy Award nominations: After Redgrave was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, the Jewish Defense League objected to her nomination because she had narrated and helped fund a documentary entitled "The Palestinian," which supported a Palestinian state. They also picketed the Oscar ceremony.
 * Jason Robards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
 * Vanessa Redgrave for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
 * Alvin Sargent for Best Adapted Screenplay
 * Best Picture, Richard Roth (producer)
 * Fred Zinnemann for Best Director
 * Jane Fonda for Best Actress in a Leading Role
 * Maximilian Schell for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
 * Douglas Slocombe for Best Cinematography
 * Anthea Sylbert for Best Costume Design;
 * Walter Murch for Best Film Editing.[5]
 * Georges Delerue for Best Music, Original Score

Accepting her Academy Award, Redgrave said: It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film.