JULIA AND JULIA
A film review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Copyright 1988 Evelyn C. Leeper
When we first see Julia (played by Kathleen Turner) she's happily married--just married. Her happiness lasts but a few hours, though, before her husband Paolo (played by Gabriel Byrne) is killed in a car accident.
We then jump forward seven years and see Julia going through the daily routine of her life in a state not unlike that of a zombie. Then suddenly she finds herself in another world, one in which her husband didn't die, one in which she is still married and has a young son. But this world isn't all sweetness and light either--Julia in this world is cheating on her husband and being blackmailed by her lover to continue their relationship. Like a pendulum, she finds herself swinging back and forth between the two worlds, first trying to understand what is happening and then trying to create the world she wants. This is made even more confused by the fact that the person who in world two is her lover (played by Sting) also exists in world one as someone Julia meets in the course of the film.
Alternate histories are not common in film or television: QUEST FOR LOVE, "City on the Edge of Forever" (STAR TREK), "Stay Tuned, We'll Be Right Back" (DARKROOM), AN ENGLISHMAN'S CASTLE, and a few others. Why are they not common? Well, maybe it's because alternate worlds are a mental concept rather than an action concept (like car chases). JULIA AND JULIA demands a mental effort on the part of the viewer to keep track of who's where. The film itself is slow-moving and has a cold and distant feel.
JULIA AND JULIA was shot on video, giving it a made-for-TV look. The Italian setting (it was made by RAI) is well-used but tends to distance the story and make both worlds unfamiliar, adding to the distant feel. Recommended for the more intellectually oriented viewer.
Evelyn C. Leeper
201-957-2070
att!mtgzy!ecl or ecl@mtgzy.att.com
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