Julia

A film set in the 1930s and based on a real memoir. Lillian is a playwright. She works in New York and is struggling to write her first play. Her childhood friend Julia is in Europe; she went to study medicine and joined a group working against fascism in Vienna. Lillian's play succeeds and she becomes known. She has trouble getting news of Julia; the woman is injured in an attack and disappears. One day an offer comes to Lillian. On her way to Moscow she will pass through Berlin carrying money; the money will be used to get people out of Germany. The central passage is that train journey. The border check, the wait in the compartment, not knowing who is a contact and a short meeting in Berlin. What the narrative is interested in is not politics but the tie between two women and one's admiration for the other's life. The source is Lillian Hellman's book of memoirs. Its truthfulness was later disputed and it was claimed that the person described was someone else's story. Jane Fonda plays Lillian, Vanessa Redgrave plays Julia and Jason Robards the writer Dashiell Hammett. Meryl Streep has a small part; it is her first film. Fred Zinnemann directed. The film won three Academy Awards. A strong production for anyone who likes period drama and narratives about friendship. For a viewer expecting pace, the film is built on remembering and moves slowly.