British Universities Film & Video Council

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Julia

Synopsis
Feature film. Concerns the lifelong relationship between playwright Lillian Hellman (Fonda) and Julia (Redgrave), a wealthy girl who turns her back on her upbringing to follow her ideals. In the 1930s, while Hellman struggles to establish herself as a playwright with the help of her lover, Dashiell Hammett (Robards), Julia battles the exigencies of the Nazi regime. Visiting Julia in Germany, Lillian realises how much her friend’s idealism has cost her, both physically and financially. Lillian is asked by Julia’s friend Johann (Schell) to smuggle a large sum of money from Paris to Germany, the better to fight the Nazis from within. Julia is murdered, and Lillian searches for her daughter Lili whom she promised to care for. Includes a scene in Moscow where Lillian sees a Russian production of Hamlet. Intercut with the performance (through which Lillian sleeps) is a sequence in which Julia is seen being murdered by Nazis thus contrasting a real tragedy with a staged one.
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1977
Duration
117 mins; 10,563 feet

Credits

Director
Fred Zinnemann
Producer
Richard Roth
Cinematographer
Douglas Slocombe
Screenplay
Alvin Sargent
Music
Georges Delerue
Production Design
Carmen Dillon; Gene Callahan; Willy Holt
Cast
Stefan GryffHamlet
Jane FondaLillian Hellman
Jason RobardsDashiel Hammett
Maximilian SchellJohann
Vanessa RedgraveJulia

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Hamlet
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
Adapted from part of the novel Pentimento by Lillian Hellman.
Reviews
Sweet, Louise. Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 44, no. 527 December 1977, p.260.

Production Company

Name

20th Century Fox

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

Record Stats

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