Jane Fonda stars as Lillian Hellman and Vanessa Redgrave stars as her friend, the title character, in Julia. The two women grow up together but take separate paths in adulthood. Lillian bonds with Dashiell Hammett, played by Jason Robards, and becomes a writer, and Julia goes to Oxford. In the years before WWII, Julia stands up to Nazis and gets punished for it, and when Lillian rushes to her to help, she finds herself involved in a dangerous and secret mission.While Jane is always very likable and easy to root for, her costar feels washed-out by comparison. Vanessa can't stand up to Jane's energy, and her performance is easily forgettable, even though she won an Academy Award for it. Jason Robards, also naturally grumpy and unlikable, also won an Oscar for his performance.I didn't end up liking this movie, and since there are hundreds of pre-WWII, anti-Nazi movies out there, I wouldn't really recommend watching this one unless you're a die-hard Vanessa Redgrave fan. I'm not, so I don't tend to enjoy her movies.

This was the penultimate film of the long directorial career of Fred Zinnemann, whose many triumphs have so enriched cinema history. This film is a superb evocation of a true story from the life of Lillian Hellman, as recounted in the volume of her memoirs entitled PENTIMENTO. Although Lillian Hellman was no beauty, she is played by the glamorous Jane Fonda, an amusing and flattering touch. Hellman's close friend Julia, for whom Hellman has the deepest possible emotional attachment, is played by Vanessa Redgrave, who is as usual inspired and brilliant. We see Hellman struggling pathetically to write and rewrite her play THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, staying in a beach house apparently at the Hamptons with her husband Dashiell Hammett (played by Jason Robards, Junior), a much older and successful author of mystery novels, such as THE THIN MAN. While this is happening, Hellmann's friend Julia has gone to Europe to struggle against Nazism in the resistance movement. The film skirts over Hellmann's own political affiliations, so that from the film one might think that she held no strong partisan views. The truth is that Hellmann was a passionate member of the United States Communist Party, as I discovered long ago when I was editing some of the unpublished private papers of the late James Agee. Agee described in some of his autobiographical notes being taken to some Communist Party meetings in New York City by a friend who wanted him to join. He records that Hellmann was there on those occasions, and was a very keen and dedicated member. (Agee himself never joined.) In order to see the story of this film in a true perspective, one must know this. In the story, Hellmann undertakes a risky trip to Europe to pass money to Julia in order to help 'the Cause'. The film portrays her as a naïve and apolitical person doing this out of love and friendship. I am sure she did it out of love and friendship, but I am also sure she did it as a political activist herself. So let's get the historical record a little straighter. Whether Fred Zinnemann knew about that or not is impossible to say, and the fact that Hellmann was alive at the time the film was made would have made it impossible for him to get the political story accurate anyway. The film is a very powerful drama, and if I appear to quibble over a detail of the motivation of the characters' actions, it is only to fill out the historical record. Certainly the film is a magnificent achievement and very moving.

Friendships and love. Memory and longing. A film that lets you dwell without forcing you to. The story, a true account, told by Lillian Hellman in "Pentimento" was debased by one of Hellman's fans that became her assistant. Imagine. Trying to destroy your mentor. Real or imaginary the story lived in Hellman's heart and mind. Fred Zinnemann created a world for the story to acquire a true human dimension. A triumph. Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave are extraordinary as the inseparable childhood friends, Lilli and Julia. Jason Robards, is utterly wonderful as Dashiell Hammett. The film is also the first for Meryl Streep in a short, very short but memorable character. The script by Alvin Sargent, magnificent. Highly recommended.

Although the movie was nominated for 11 Oscars and ended up winning 3, there is not much mentioning of it nowadays, it is seldom on TV etc. My guess is due to the script and topic approach - since 1990ies, there have been so many strong movies about Nazi Germany, resistance to it, fate of Jews, etc, that Julia has became timeworn. The really catchy part of the movie is the smuggling train trip from Paris to Russia via Germany, the rest is so-so, often too trivial and/or insipid. At least to me as man, as the movie had strong focus on women's issues and comprehensions.Jane Fonda as Lilian Hellman is really great, it was strange that she did not receive an Oscar for such a big and strong role; Vanessa Redgrave as Julia and Jason Robards as Dashiell Hammett (who received this award for supporting roles) were good as well, but they spent rather limited time on screen.All in all, a good watch, but not among the greatest Oscar winners.