True Stories 21: 00s—Julie & Julia

I love this film. Well, most of this film. And more about why I say “most” later.

Written by Nora Ephron, Julie & Julia [2009], goes back in time to tell us of famous TV chef and cookbook author Julia Child’s life while living in Paris in the 50s, and contrasts her life with the life of Julie Powell who lives in present-day New York and decides to write a blog about cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GI-PrBtlw

It’s not easy to interweave two stories and have your film hold together, so I think it’s worth looking at just how Ephron did that. One story is in the present and the other happened 60 years ago. Probably the most critical thing to get right in a script like this is the transitions between scenes. They can’t be choppy and they have to blend in story-wise—not an easy task. So let’s take a look at how Ephron did that so seamlessly.

Watch how the film begins—we’re on the docks in France seeing Julia and Paul’s car being lowered onto French soil. During their drive through the countryside, he has her repeat some French words, they stop for dinner and glory in the amazing food, before heading to their grand Paris apartment. This contrasts with Julie and Eric Powell in the present day driving their car to their new apartment in Queens. Two couples—both of whom really love each other—moving house. The storybook past and the in-your-face present.

Some of Ephron’s transitions are so deft you hardly notice that they’re happening. There’s a moment where Julie’s in bed falling into the covers and the moment ends with a close-up of the covers—but when we pull back, we’re looking at Julia Child’s bedcovers 60 years ago.

And some transitions are so amazing that they take your breath away. At the Smithsonian, Julie and Eric look at Julia’s kitchen that’s been preserved item for item from Julia’s kitchen in Boston. When they leave, the lighting in the kitchen brightens considerably and Julia walks into the kitchen—and we have no problem believing she’s back in her real kitchen in Boston, with Paul walking in behind her, bringing the mail. And the mail includes the first published copy of her famous cookbook.

That last scene really encapsulates the idea of the film—that someone you love/admire lives on in your memories. Their history is always there for you to imagine. And, of course, this is what movies often do, isn’t it?

Should you ever tackle going back and forth between two time periods in telling your true story, Julie & Julia is a textbook on how that can be done.

Now, as to why I only liked most of this film. For me, the most compelling story was that of Julia Child. Julie Powell’s story was—in my view—put in there just to appeal to the younger moviegoer. Julie’s story was an addendum to Julia’s story. In fact, this year a fantastic 9-part streaming-series Julia premiered on HBO Max. I ask myself, could you have a similar streaming series on Julie Powell’s life? No way. So I’m delighted HBO decided to go for the meat of Julia’s story and stick to it!

Next week, we go to England for The King’s Speech.

Copyright © Diane Lake

30Oct22

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com