Julia (2021) Movie Review
Julia is the latest documentary from filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the duo who brought you RBG (2018). This time the focus is on Julia Child. The movie begins by covering some of Julia’s childhood growing up in Pasadena, California. She was born in 1912 and was the oldest daughter of two conservative parents. She attended Smith College but it was not to pursue a career, it was to find a husband, which she did not do. When WWII started she joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as a typist. She then volunteered to go East to Sri Lanka and eventually wound up in China which is where she met and fell in love with Paul. They eventually got married and moved to Paris which sparked Julia’s love of French food. While in Paris she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu and was one of the few women in the kitchen.
This was the start of the Julia Child we all know. On a stroke of luck or fate she met Simone Beck at a party. They would go on to write the now famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. When Paul quit his job after being accused of being a Communist they moved to Massachusetts. With no career lined up for either of them, Julia went on a book tour to promote the cookbook. She happened to be on a television segment where she cooked an omelet to display one of the recipes in the cookbook. This sparked some interest from the audience and Julia wound up getting a television show on WGBH-TV which was a public television station. Her cooking show started small but eventually took off and skyrocketed Julia to stardom.
All of this has been well documented before and even put into the fictionalized movie Julie and Julia (2009). Cohen and West intersperse archival video footage and photos into the mix which produces a nice effect. It certainly is fun to hear Julia’s distinct voice booming out “I’m Julia Childs,” on the old video footage of her cooking show. The documentary does a great job of highlighting the best of Julia. She was ahead of her time in many ways, forging a career for herself at a time when most women were simply housewives. She also got started in her career later in life, when she was in her fifties, proving that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. The archival footage of her television show was so fun to watch as she made mistakes and shrugged them off as part of the learning process. She truly wasn’t afraid of failure, she embraced it and encouraged others to make mistakes in the kitchen when they were learning to cook.
Another fun part of the documentary was Julia’s relationship with Paul. They had a bit of an unconventional marriage for the time. They didn’t have any children and Paul was extremely supportive of Julia’s career, even when it eclipsed his own. He supported her dream and wanted to see her succeed. They were a true team and Cohen and West include some insightful entries in journals and letters where the two talk about their relationship and life together. They included interviews with a handful of people who knew Julia in real life and there was some old audio of Julia talking about her life. Cohen and West don’t add much new insight to the Julia Child canon. They briefly touch upon the more “controversial” aspects of Child’s life by covering her support of Planned Parenthood and her semi-homophobic views that did a complete 180 when someone she was close to died of AIDS.
Despite glossing over the more unsavory aspects of Julia’s life, this is a very solid documentary that fans of Julia Child will love. It was entertaining to see old photos and footage of her in action and seeing a complete timeline of her life was enjoyable but it didn’t unearth anything shocking or revelatory about Child. However, the topics that were covered were worthwhile and it was a fun experience to see Julia’s optimism and good nature burst from the screen. As Julia would say, bon appétit!
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You are a fan of Julia Child
2. You love food and/or to cook
3. You like hopeful stories about real people achieving their dreams
