Julia (1977)

Fred Zinnemann's penultimate film, Julia (1977) is an underrated gem. Based on Lillian Hellman's Pentimento, it focuses on friendship between two women: one an accomplished playwright, the other an airy idealist. Strong acting and impeccable direction make it worth seeking out.

Playwright Lillian Hellman (Jane Fonda) struggles to achieve success, encouraged by lover Dashiel Hammett (Jason Robards). After producing an acclaimed Broadway play, Hellman travels to Europe, hoping to reconnect with lifelong friend Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) in Vienna. Julia's involved in antifascist movements, and persuades Lillian deliver money to an underground movement in Berlin. Lillian undertakes the mission, but discovers her friend's life and motives increasingly inscrutable.

Julia benefits immensely from Zinnemann's elegant direction. He blends Douglas Slocombe's painterly compositions (especially Hammett's beach house) with impeccable recreations of '30s Europe: the art direction, sets and costumes are immaculate. Occasionally he interrupts the splendor with violent set pieces like a Brownshirt riot and a ritualized assassination a la The Conformist. But Zinnemann achieves authenticity without the showiness of most period pieces; he puts characters before context, story before ornamentation.

Julia essentially contrasts its protagonists, two strong but very different women. Lillian desires success but finds herself dissatisfied by high society's sable coats and shallow company. Her materialism contrasts with Julia's idealism: from her youth, Julia recognizes injustice and inequity. She's a hopeful beacon for Lillian, maimed by Austrian fascists and risking her life to undermine Hitler's Germany. Yet she becomes more an ideal than a human: Lillian spends the last act trying to locate Lillian's child, who may not exist.

Alvin Sargent's script mixes sharp vignettes with sharp characterization. Julia employs airy flashbacks to flesh out the characters, using historical snippets to place Julia's activism in context. If Julia fails, it's shortchanging Lillian's writing career. Writing The Children's Hour consists of an obligatory type-and-crumple montage, followed by Hammett proclaiming it a masterpiece! Such a hoary sequence rings as false here as anywhere else. But Lillian's such a compelling protagonist it feels grouchy to complain.

Jane Fonda scores with a tough-minded performance, skillfully exhibiting warmth and exasperation. Vanessa Redgrave gets the trickier part: Julia's an airy enigma, but Redgrave's beguiling charm makes an indelible impression. Jason Robards earned a second Oscar for his sensitive Dashiel Hammett; Maximilian Schell cameos as a friendly resistance leader. Meryl Streep makes her debut playing a vapid socialite.

Julia looks like many period dramas, from its ravishing art direction to the familiar fascist setting. But beneath the period gloss it's a warm, mature character drama that deserves a look.