Being Julia

Being Julia

Passion. Obsession. Revenge. Prepare for the performance of a lifetime.

R 2004 · 104 min · ★ 6.4 · Comedy, Drama, Romance

Julia Lambert is a true diva: beautiful, talented, weathly and famous. She has it all - including a devoted husband who has mastermined her brilliant career - but after years of shining in the spotlight she begins to suffer from a severe case of boredom and longs for something new and exciting to put the twinkle back in her eye. Julia finds exactly what she's looking for in a handsome young American fan, but it isn't long before the novelty fling adds a few more sparks than she was hoping for. Fortuately for her, this surprise twist in the plot will thrust her back into the greatest role of her life.

Directed by István Szabó · Written by W. Somerset Maugham

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Annette Bening Julia Lambert
Jeremy Irons Michael Gosselyn
Miriam Margolyes Dolly de Vries
Bruce Greenwood Lord Charles
Michael Gambon Jimmie Langton
Leigh Lawson Archie Dexter
Shaun Evans Tom Fennel
Juliet Stevenson Evie
Max Irons Curtain Call Boy
Michael Culkin Rupert
Tom Sturridge Roger Gosselyn
Sheila McCarthy Grace Dexter

Make it a double feature

3h 34m together

Being Julia

Stand off

Both from István Szabó.

More from István SzabóSee all →

Stand off

Stand off · 1989

In a border town two sons of the local commander using stolen arms take hostages of eighteen girls in a dormitory, because they want to go West by plane.

Final Report

Final Report · 2020

A cardiologist is sent into retirement, but he feels at loss without his work. He returns to his home village to work as a general practitioner. This is the start of his ordeal: he's confronted with raw reality, which finally brings him to his knees. But music has the last word.

Age of Illusions

Age of Illusions · 1965

Age of Illusions

Jancsi is part of a closely knit gang of young engineers. They see the older engineers as mediocre, and have grand ideas about developing new inventions together. With changing living conditions the five friends start to grow apart. At a party Jancsi suddenly meets Éva Halk. They fall in love, and find common memories in the engagement in The Pioneer Railway at the age of 12.

Lovefilm

Lovefilm · 1970

MovieDramaRomance

A story of two young people in Hungary, Jancsi and Kata. First they are good friends, later lovers. Soon after the 1956 Revolution Kata leaves Hungary, Jancsi stays there. After 10 years Jancsi is allowed to visit Kata in France, their love is reborn, but after a short, very happy period Jancsi has to return to Hungary and their love fades as years have gone by.

Confidence

Confidence · 1980

Janos and Kata are thrown together during the Second World War and forced to pose as husband and wife to hide from the Nazis. The intensity and suffocating intimacy of their new relationship and the circumstances in which they find themselves, forces them to confront past prejudices and assumptions and challenge what they truly believe.

Mephisto

Mephisto · 1981

A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. As his associates and friends flee or are ground under by the Nazi terror, the popularity of his character supercedes his own existence until he finds that his best performance is keeping up appearances for his Nazi patrons.

Dialogue

Dialogue · 1963

The film depicts the period between 1945-60 through the life of a communist couple. Barna Judit, just released from a concentration camp and Horváth László, with an illegal past are brought together by the communist movement. They study and make plans together in the hope of a future that will make sense. The marriage they just entered, however, gets ruined soon by the events of history.

Offenbach's Secret

Offenbach's Secret · 1996

Offenbach's Secret

Academy Award winner Istvan Szabo brings to the screen Offenbach's operettas set against the backdrop of power and intrigue in 19th century Paris. Offenbach's Secret follows the staging of Croquefer and Les deux Aveugles at the Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens founded by Offenbach in 1855. Limited by French law to one act with no more than three singers, Offenbach's early operettas were filled with biting social commentary and poked fun at the moral ambiguity of France's Second Empire under Napoleon III. In addition to Offenbach's vivacious music, the film features lush costumes, period details, and striking set designs.

Colonel Redl

Colonel Redl · 1985

MovieDramaHistory

Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl, an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.

You

MovieRomanceComedy

A playful portrait of a young woman who merrily roams the streets of Budapest. A New Wave love letter in motion.

I Served the King of England

I Served the King of England · 2007

I Served the King of England

Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the inter-war period. Jan Dítě, a young and clever waiter who wants to become a millionaire, comes to the conclusion that to achieve his ambitious goal he must be diligent, listen and observe as much as he can, be always discreet and use what he learns to his own advantage; but the turbulent tides of history will continually stand in his way.

Father

When young Tako's father dies in Hungary in 1945, Tako is left with scant memories of him. Nurtured by his mother, the boy fantasizes about the man his father was, imagining him a hero. Grown into a man himself, Tako falls for a Jewish refugee, Anni. Burdened by her own heritage as a Jew, Anni sparks in Tako a desire to find out what his father was really like, and he delves into the role his father played in World War II.

Ten Minutes Older: The Cello

Ten Minutes Older: The Cello · 2002

Ten Minutes Older: The Cello

MovieScience FictionDrama

Collection of short films the summaries of which include; a foreign man moving to Italy, getting married and having a child; a four split scene short involving plot-less images of old people with television sets for heads, a beautiful woman having sex, and overall confusion; and an old man reminiscing over his youth.

Hanussen

Hanussen · 1988

MovieScience FictionHistory

A man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters. He always speaks the truth, which brings him to the attention of powerful Nazis. He predicts their rise (good propaganda for them) and their violence (not so good). He's in pain and at risk. What is Hanussen's future?

Sunshine

Sunshine · 1999

MovieDramaHistory

The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.

Taking Sides

Taking Sides · 2002

One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 1930s, Wilhelm Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing.

More Like This

Imagine Me & You

Imagine Me & You · 2006

Imagine Me & You

MovieDramaComedy

During her wedding ceremony, Rachel notices Luce in the audience and feels instantly drawn to her. The two women become close friends, and when Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian, she realizes that despite her happy marriage to Heck, she is falling for Luce. As she questions her sexual orientation, Rachel must decide between her stable relationship with Heck and her exhilarating new romance with Luce.

The Holiday

The Holiday · 2006

MovieComedyRomance

Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

Fever Pitch

Fever Pitch · 1997

MovieComedyRomance

A romantic comedy about a man, a woman and a football team. Based on Nick Hornby's best selling autobiographical novel, Fever Pitch. English teacher Paul Ashworth believes his long standing obsession with Arsenal serves him well. But then he meets Sarah. Their relationship develops in tandem with Arsenal's roller coaster fortunes in the football league, both leading to a nail biting climax.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

The Man Who Knew Too Much · 1956

The Man Who Knew Too Much

MovieThrillerMystery

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.

The Hours

The Hours · 2002

The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird · 1962

To Kill a Mockingbird

Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting · 1996

MovieDramaCrime

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary · 2001

Bridget Jones's Diary

MovieComedyRomance

Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against expectations. As a New Year's resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. Her charming boss takes an interest in her, and she cannot stop running into a rather disagreeable acquaintance whom Bridget cannot help finding quietly attractive.

Blow-Up

Blow-Up · 1966

MovieDramaMystery

A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.

The Prestige

The Prestige · 2006

MovieDramaMystery

A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd · 2006

The Good Shepherd

MovieDramaThriller

Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.

Inland Empire

Inland Empire · 2006

MovieHorrorThriller

When actress Nikki Grace gets the lead role in a cursed film, her world becomes more and more surreal, blending realities and ideas of infidelity, reincarnation, and supernatural forces.

Dirty Pretty Things

Dirty Pretty Things · 2002

Dirty Pretty Things

MovieCrimeDrama

An undocumented immigrant finds a human heart in one of the toilets of the west London hotel where he works with other undocumented immigrants.

Emma

MovieRomanceComedy

Emma Woodhouse is a congenial young lady who delights in meddling in other people’s affairs. She is perpetually trying to unite men and women who are utterly wrong for each other. Despite her interest in romance, Emma is clueless about her own feelings, and her relationship with gentle Mr. Knightley.

The Broken

The Broken · 2008

MovieThrillerDrama

The life of a successful radiologist spirals out of control when she sees the spitting image of herself driving down a London street. While attempting to uncover who the imposter could be, she stumbles into a terrifying mystery that her family and closest friends are somehow involved in, leaving her with no one to trust.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter