Julia (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Erick Zonca

Writers:

Michael Collins (adaptation)
Camille Natta (adaptation)

Release Date:

12 March 2008 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A woman tries to extort money, using a young boy as bait.

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Tilda Swinton	...	Julia
Saul Rubinek	...	Mitch
Kate del Castillo	...	Elena
Aidan Gould	...	Tom
Jude Ciccolella	...	Nick
Bruno Bichir	...	Diego
Horacio Garcia Rojas	...	Santos
Kevin Kilner	...	Johnny
John Bellucci	...	Phillip
Ezra Buzzington	...	George
Roger Cudney	...	Frank
Eugene Byrd	...	Leon
Neko Parham	...	Ejay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Amico	...	Detective
Sally Berman	...	Woman by Car
Joe Cucuiat	...	Undercover Agent #2
Carl Dillard	...	Henry
Dave Gist	...	Fat Train Station Guy
Priscilla Leona Horne	...	Woman In Station
M.J. Karmi	...	AA Woman
Jake Koenig	...	Bartender
Camille Natta	...	Karen
Tom Poole	...	Detective
Ian Ray	...	Undercover Agent #1
Marshal Silverman	...	Commuter
Ursula Tania	...	Cooker
Tania Verafield	...	Cleaning Lady

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language, some violent content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

France | USA | Mexico | Belgium

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:16 | USA:R | Portugal:M/16 | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Laguna Salada, Mexicali, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Company:

Les Productions Bagheera

Trivia:

In real life, Tilda Swinton, who plays an alcoholic in the film, cannot drink. She says she would fall asleep after having just one glass.

Soundtrack:

Just One More Day

A Blazing Tour de Force for Tilda Swinton

JULIA is one of those films that goes beyond being a story and production worth the viewers' attention: this is one of those experiences in observing the art of acting at its peak. Tilda Swinton who continues to explore roles that challenge her and her audience, roles that few other actresses would considering making let alone making, and in JULIA she covers a range of emotions and mutations of a character that simply leave the audience in complete awe of her talent. She is extraordinary!

Julia is a bright but flawed person. She is an alcoholic who spends her nights drinking herself into oblivion only to wake up the next morning not recognizing her bed partner or the surroundings of her comatosed night of stupor. Swinton makes us understand this character's 'way with men' in her grossly revealing clothes and her flirtations backed by a mouth of filth. Julia loses her job over her drunken tardiness and has ruined a 'relationship' with ex-alcoholic Mitch (Saul Rubinek) and finally goes to an AA meeting where she meets Elena (Kate Del Castillo), a pathetic recovering alcoholic whose only goal in life is to retrieve her son Tom (Aidan Gould) from his wealthy disapproving grandfather. Julia is so desperate for money that she buys into a bizarre 'kidnapping' of Tom for Elena, a decision that triggers all of the rest of the film's journey through crime and sleaze as Julia fails at every effort to 'play the game' of criminal to make a fortune. Traveling from Los Angeles through the desert to Mexico, along the way Julia encounters 'co-facilitators' in her new life of crime - portrayed by such fine actors as Bruno Bichir (Demian Bichir's brother), a new and fine young actor Horacio Garcia Rojas, and Eugene Byrd to name only a few of the standout performances. Though a bit overlong at 2 1/2 hours, the script by Michael Collins and Camille Natta is spot on perfect and the direction by Erick Zonca makes the long film always richly colored and fascinating in attention to detail.

But the real reason to watch this film in the astonishing, multifaceted performance by Tilda Swinton, surely one of the finest actresses before us today. Her Julia creates a new level of acting standard- even for Swinton!

Grady Harp