The screen adaptation of the Somerset
Maugham novel Theatre offers
something like the perfect part for what was called in the polite fiction of
the past “a woman of a certain age.” Annette Bening, who stars in the film, is
that woman, an actor at the same stage in her life as her character, Julia
Lambert, an English actor facing a crisis partly resulting from her realization
of the limited future of a middle-aged woman on the stage.
Like many female movie stars over 40,
Bening faces some of the same difficulties, like typecasting in maternal roles,
small supporting parts, the reluctance of male actors to co-star opposite her,
and of course, competition with Hollywood’s annual crops of blossoming young
beauties.
One of the most celebrated leading
ladies of the London theater, the toast of the 1938 season, Julia Lambert
enjoys the adulation of audiences, the praise of critics, the support of both
her manager-director-husband Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons) and her best
friend, Lord Charles (Bruce Greenwood). She not incidentally earns a great deal
of money for her backers, especially the adoring, overweight lesbian Dolly de
Vries (Miriam Margolyes), who cultivates an unrequited crush on her. At the age
of 45, however, Julia begins to feel fatigued and burned out, dissatisfied with
her work on the stage, and uneasy about a future in which she foresees herself
playing mothers, aunts, and grandmothers.
When Julia announces that she wants
to quit her current play and take a break from acting altogether, her husband,
backers, and friends naturally attempt to dissuade her, not only because she
represents a source of income but also because they sincerely believe in her
talent and accomplishments. She changes her mind, however, when she meets a
young American admirer, Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans) who’s come to London to learn
the business side of the theater. An avid fan, Tom lavishes praise on her,
charms her, and ultimately, makes love to her.
Although she’s been involved in
previous flings, this time Julia falls in love with Tom and their torrid affair
rejuvenates her both personally and professionally. Glowing with life and giddy
with sexual energy, she changes her mind about leaving the play and performs
with renewed skill, power, and commitment.
When Tom’s affection ultimately wanes
and he begins to devote himself to a young ingรฉnue, her performances
deteriorate. The fusion of art and life, which haunts her throughout the movie,
proves too difficult to handle, and she undergoes something like a breakdown.
When Julia discovers a way to regain
her health and resumes her career in a new comedy, which also stars Tom’s new
girlfriend, she engineers a clever and triumphant feat of acting that nicely
concludes the action and propels her once again to the top of her profession.
The concluding sequences, which deal with the rehearsals and finally, the
performance of the new play, reconcile the persistent, ambiguous conflicts
between life and art that plague her throughout the film and nicely demonstrate
some of the subtleties in an actor’s experience of playing an actor.
That task obviously allows Annette
Bening to display a considerable variety of emotional effects. She makes the
most of the sort of part that few movie stars of her generation get the
opportunity to play. In the constant closeups she mostly looks simply
beautiful, sparkling with good humor and high spirits. Though when the script
demands it, she shows that she is also unafraid to look haggard and plain, a
middle-aged woman foolishly besotted with a vacuous man barely older than her
son. Being Julia constitutes a
wonderful vehicle for her talents, possibly the best portrait of a female
theatrical performer in her situation since the unforgettable All About Eve.
The rest of the cast supports Bening
in grand style, often playing just a bit over the top, fittingly for a movie
about the theater. The redoubtable Jeremy Irons generously takes a secondary
role and, like everyone else, seems to be having great fun. In part because of
the fine supporting actors, some of them American, some English, the whole
movie fizzes with a kind of effervescent charm and zest.
A considerable amount of that charm
results from the portrayal of the London theater scene itself. Its generally
silly drawing room comedies and domestic melodramas, stiff declamatory acting
style, its old-fashioned approach to production, even the lively and varied
sexual liaisons all suggest some of the brittle, artificial gaiety of the late
1930s, a moment before the world went back to war.
The movie wonderfully displays the
costumes, cars, and furnishings of the times, while the soundtrack constantly
plays the appropriate popular songs. Being
Julia looks great and sounds great, and Annette Bening plays the title part
to perfection.
Being Julia (R), starring Annette
Bening, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson,
Shaun Evans; based on the novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham; screenplay by Ronald Harwood; directed by Istvรกn Szabรณ.
Little Theatre
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2004.
