Julie & Julia

One of the greatest things about being more permanently back in London is being able to watch films. In the early days at Uncle B, the copious amount of beach time (sorry, current employees, for harping on about the Golden Days) meant I got myself a Cineworld Unlimited card and spent many afternoons watching films. The zero marginal cost meant I started watching a lot of films I normally wouldn't choose to go to, which meant I occasionally broadened my horizons beyond the arthouse foreign language films I'm so fond of.

Even though it turned out to be complete food porn, I didn't really plan to go and see Julie & Julia, the new film starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams on the parallel lives of food blogger Julie Powell and American cook Julia Child. I'd actually never heard of Julia Child until the film came out, apparently she introduced America to French cooking, a kind of Franny Craddock mixed in with Elizabeth David mixed in with Delia Smith, but with much more personality. The film follows Julie Powell's adventure in trying to learn to cook from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by cooking all the recipes within 365 days.

I have come to love both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in recent years. I love Streep's versatility; she can be the strict nun in Doubt, then the bored housewife in Bridges of Madison County, then a singing harpie in Mamma Mia! I've not seen much of Amy Adams actually, but I did love her precious and innocent performance in Junebug, one of those little indie films I cannot get tired of.

Obviously the best thing about the film is its ability to portray the simply joy of food. I loved the sole meuniere scene, which made me recall the lovely version I tried in Paris. I loved seeing Julie cry in the kitchen when things fail. I also would like to try and bone out a whole duck. I'm not sure how non foodies can sit through the film.

However, I did feel like I was missing a large point of the film by not being familiar with Julia Child. I understand that she was an eccentric, with a funny voice, with funny mannerisms, but not having really seen Julia Child, it was difficult to judge Streep's performance. At times, she came across as a bit Hyacinth Bucket with her pseudo-British accent mixed with random French phrases. Having watched this clip of Child cooking an omelette, I'm still not too convinced.



I'd love for people to recommend me more foodie films though. My favourite is probably Eat Drink Man Woman 飲食男女, extreme Chinese food porn, and a great portrayal of modern Chinese life too. Carl also made me watch Babette's Feast. More please!