MISS JULIE
Reviewed by Harvey Karten United Artists/Moonstone Entertainment Director: Mike Figgis Writer: Helen Cooper, Mike Figgis, play by August Strindberg Cast: Saffron Burrows, Peter Mullan, Maria Doyle Kennedy
Since conflict is the quintessential aspect of novels, theater and movies, it makes sense that some of the most intriguing tales put people of two different worlds into the same room and watch them try to mesh--inevitably to fail. Such stories do not necessarily have the bloodshed endemic to yarns about people of the same class who battle each other-- Hamlet vs. his uncle; Clytemnestra vs. Agamemnon; Richard III vs. his own family. But they can make for absorbing melodrama. Consider the two recent examples. In "Mansfield Park," a girl brought up in poverty is placed into the eponymous Mansfield Park and is shunned by most of her fabulously wealthy relatives. In "Cotton Mary," a woman who is half Indian, half British, looks with scorn on those who are full-bloodied East Indians.
Similarly, August Strindberg's play, "Miss Julie," pits two self-destructive people against each other in an ambivalent relationship, both using their partners for their own neurotic and selfish ends. The conclusion is inevitably melodramatic. But one wonders why Mike Figgis, best known for the wonderfully imaginative fall-of-grace movie "The Loss and Sexual Innocence" and the compelling tale of an alcoholic determined to commit suicide via the bottle, "Leaving Las Vegas," would dedicate himself to the Strindberg work. True, "Julie" and "Vegas" have similar themes, but "Miss Julie"'s stage origins are so manifest in this production, so restricting (and yet so necessary to bring out the vigor of the text), that the project comes across to a movie audience as static. Nowadays I suspect that productions of the play are the domain of college repertory companies, community groups and of some commercial stages such as those off-off- Broadway. While the Figgis version is not marred so much by a period-piece atmosphere, it is impaired by a claustrophobic aura. Most of the action takes place in a kitchen, and the one outside vista looks like a production design rather than a natural habitat. More important, the story, written by Strindberg in 1884, should not expect to have much impact on a contemporary audience notwithstanding the free translation from the Swedish given it by Helen Cooper.
Essentially a two-character drama, an extended conversation between people who are both sympathetic and off-putting, "Miss Julie" centers on a neurotic bond established during a festive summer holiday between the daughter of a wealthy count and a footman who is one of the count's servants. While the owner of the estate is away, Julie takes advantage of the particular holiday in which servants are encouraged to socialize and dance freely with their employers to begin her own dance of seduction. Under the disapproving eye of the cook, Christine (Maria Doyle Kennedy), who is the fiance of the footman, Jean (Peter Mullan), Julie (Saffron Burrows) flirts openly with Jean, forcing him to dance repeatedly with her. She thereby stimulates gossip among the servants about an alleged mutual attraction and, in one instance, the domestics dance about singing an obscene ditty about their house mistress. Jean, born into poverty-stricken family of ten, has contempt for his "betters" while he is determined to rise above his station. He is intent on persuading Julie to steal her father's money so that he and Julie and Christine can escape from the stifling estate and become partners in a hotel around Lake Como. For her part Julie, the product of a cold, man- hating mother, has become incapable of relating to others in a healthy way and, while striving to keep her independence, is bent on running away with Jean--whom she considers a strong male figure. As Julie and Jean spill out more than they should about their childhoods, they are forced at one point to hide, at which time they physically consummate their desires in a swift, brutal sexual union. While Jean then taunts the mistress, calling her a whore, Julie becomes increasingly suicidal. The story plays out as a testimonial to the destruction that can be wrought when impossible dreams clash with an impervious reality.
While the performances of the three principals are satisfactory, with Saffron Burrows alternately weeping, cajoling, and expressing her anxieties with wide eyes while the handsome and dignified Peter Mullan drives her on toward destruction, the movie fails to make Strindberg's dated play come to life on the screen. It's not that the subject matter is obsolete. Class distinctions are a nasty reality even in democratic states like the U.S. today and naive, stubborn maidens are led astray throughout the world every day of the year. But the particular way in which the story is translated to the screen is relatively inert notwithstanding the use of two handheld 16mm cameras to give the production a grainy edgy look and the use of a split screen technique during some of Jean and Julie's most intimate moments. Nor does Figgis's rendition contribute much that is new or in any way superior to the 1972 film of the same name starring Helen Mirren in the title role.
Rated R. Running Time: 97 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
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