Love. Lust. Revenge. Get ready for the performance of a lifetime.
In London in 1938, beautiful and beguiling Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is at her peak, physically and professionally. But her successful theatrical career and her marriage to handsome impresario Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons) have become stale and unfulfilling. She longs for novelty, excitement, sparks. Enter Tom Fennell (Shaun Evans), a younger man who claims to be Julia's greatest fan. Finding his ardour irresistible, she decides that romance is the best antidote to a mid-life crisis and embarks on a passionate affair. Life becomes more daring and exciting, until Julia's young lover callously tries to relegate her to a supporting role. Summoning all of her considerable powers, Julia masterminds a brilliant revenge that places her exactly where she belongs, centre stage and in the spotlight.
Special Agent Matti
Being Julia is about being a queen bitch, one in a long line of theatrical queen bitches who do what they want and get what they want. It's also about the grand traditions of the theatre itself, a home for bitches and queens since theatre began. And, it's about the whirl of society that we enjoyed in Bright Young Things, one which hasn't changed despite the unseemly interruption of the odd World War.
Annette Bening is clearly the star of Being Julia, almost overwhelming the silver screen itself. She absolutely deserved all those awards and nominations that she received. Glorious is a good adjective. Stupendous is another. Julia Lambert really is a tour de force (and I've never used that cliché before).
If you have any fondness for theatre, satire, comedy or drama then you simply must see Being Julia.
M (Sexual references, low level sex scene)
103 minutes (1:43 hours)
Film: 17 March 2005