Julia and Julia Reviews

With JULIA AND JULIA, the American-born Italian director Peter Del Monte makes his first English-language picture, and, perhaps more important, the first feature-length film shot in HDVS, a high-definition video system that is transferred to 35mm film for distribution. While the technology may be revolutionary, the film is far less noteworthy. Turner stars as the title Julias. As the film begins, we realize that today is Julia's wedding day. As she and her new husband, Byrne, are driving in Italy, they are run off the road, and Byrne is killed. Unable to get over her loss, Turner subsequently lives a seemingly empty life in Trieste. One evening, however, after driving through an inexplicable fog, Turner arrives at her apartment only to find someone else living there--someone who claims to have been there for years. Julia is eventually reunited with Byrne (now alive?) and, to her surprise, a son to whom she doesn't remember giving birth. This apparently happy outcome is again turned topsy-turvy when she arrives at work, but no one recognizes her. In her pocket she finds a hotel room key, and going there after some hesitation, she is reunited with her lover, Sting, whom she doesn't remember any better than she remembers her baby. This pattern goes on for some time; then the film ends. Certain debates in the history of civilization just aren't worth pondering for long, like "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around for miles to hear it, does it make a sound?" With the release of JULIA AND JULIA, we can now add, "What is JULIA AND JULIA about, really?" Turner tries to make something of her material, but it's a one-note performance of perplexity. Sting and Byrne are just pawns in Del Monte's "Twilight Zone"-style mind game. (In English.)