Being Julia

"When am I acting and when am I myself?"

Being Julia is not only remarkable for Annette Bening's sensationally nuanced performance as aging stage diva, Julia Lambert, but also for its gorgeous recreation of the pre-war London theatre world. With an astute eye for period detail, and some lush production values, Being Julia brings to life a world of glamorous drawing rooms, enchanting theatres, plumy British accents, and some of the most beautiful period-appropriate costumes that one will ever see in a movie. Of course, the multi-faceted talent of Bening is the glue that binds all this together with a performance that is easily one of the year's best. Bening plays Julia with such a quick, high-spirited, and irascible charm, that even in her darkest moments, the viewer cannot help but root for her.

The story begins with Julia at the height of her fame. She has plenty of money, lots of adoring fans, a teenage son, and she's married to Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons), her director and manager. While sturdy professionally and good companions, Michael and Julia's marital relations are unfortunately far from intimate. With a penchant for the "terribly modern," they both seek physical solace outside the marriage. Julia lets Lord Charles (a delightful Bruce Greenwood), wine and dine her, and while she's terribly keen on him, he seems reluctant to become involved romantically. Julia also has the spirit of her cantankerous old acting coach (Michael Gambon) to keep her company, and he follows her around, whispering sound advice in her ear, while watching her outsmart her adversaries. Juliet Stevenson - marvelous in a low-key supporting role - plays her maid, and also offers Julia companionship and consolation in times of need.

Feeling unsatisfied and worrying about becoming older, Julia eventually falls for Tom Fennel (a wonderful Shaun Evans), a stage-struck young American and self confessed snob. Tom's motivations are far from romantically genuine, and perhaps he's just a callous, careless, and coldhearted gigolo. Julia doesn't care, because at least for a while, their affair gives Julia a second taste of youth. Forever the actress, Julia throws herself at him with a mixture of reckless abandon and cynical calculation, and it is to the credit of Bening that the viewer never really knows when Julia is acting or not. Things get complicated when people start to talk, and her husband begins to think that she's having an affair. It doesn't help that Tom is also stricken with Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), an up-an-coming but hysterically awful young actress who wants a supporting role in Julia's new play.

Being Julia is all about the sorrows and joys of being devoted to one's art. The film inevitably raises the question of where does one draw the line between art and life. Julia has become dissatisfied with acting, she's bored and frustrated, but she soon realizes that acting is ultimately her life. As she plots her revenge against those who are trying to usurp her, she realizes that she must use the one thing that she knows best - her acting talent. Ms. Bening owns this film, and as she gracefully gravitates from relaxed humour to steely composure, then onto histrionic distress, one gets the feeling that she'll probably be accepting the gold statuette come Oscar night. When the wonderful climactic final scene turns the action on its head, the viewer will finally see that Julia (and Bening), while remarkably triumphant, are also absolutely sensational. Mike Leonard December 04.

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