Wednesday 16 September 2009

What I thought of Julie and Julia

What can I say? I LOVED it! Not least because I lived in the same area as Julia Child, and that it brought me back to my own life in Paris, when I was 20 and 25. I miss Paris so!


I know you don't need me to introduce the film: you've probably all seen it by now or know that it's about the legendary Julia Child and a young woman who blogs about her attempt to make all 524 recipes in 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in a year.

Meryl Streep, who plays Julia, is sublime: so vivid, so witty, so brimming with joie de vivre. So beautiful! I loved the parallels between the women's lives. I loved the subtlety with which the delicate issue of pregnancy was handled. I loved the costumes, the food, the portrayal of honest relationships between women - not always perfect, sometimes jealous, sometimes competitive, yet often tender.
 
I loved what it said about marriage and partnership, about romance and appreciation of one another. It is so rare to see a film that celebrates the positive rather than looking for points of tension. A film in which tension in the conventional sense doesn't even exist. It wasn't a saccharine film though. Neither woman's marriage or life was perfect. But the film showed how real people can make the best of situations rather than walk away from them.

I want to see it again! Tonight wouldn't be too soon.
 
Ahhh, I _love_ that feeling - all too rare - of seeing something that you adore and that inspires you. I wish I had the guts to go to the Cordon Bleu, whose courses I always look at! I wish I had the tenacity that these women have!

If you haven't seen this film you MUST go and see it. And if you have please tell me what you thought! I'd love to know!

PS: Who didn't relate to the scenes about getting comments from readers? So so true! 


3 comments:

Nadia said...

What a great review! Your enthusiasm for this film makes me want to go see it now! Cheers!!

pp65468 said...

Hahah did I not tell you that this is THE movie for you?? :) I wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Julia Child apparently was not very fond of what Julie did. This makes me wonder if Child is really the type of nice sympathetic character she is portrayed to be or if she has a different personality altogether. All too often movies so turn reality on its head. Anyway apart from that I liked the movie too.

Esme said...

Vanessa -do you scrapbook-if so send me your address

chocolateandcroissants at yahoo dot com

I bought tons of stickers for my wedding to scrapbook-well that was 7 years ago-and I still have them-they are yours if you want them

xo E.