Essay: Julia Child – movie directed by Nora Ephron

“All I think about all day is food and then I dream about it all night” -Julia Child
Julie & Julia is a sensational cooking movie directed by Nora Ephron about Julia Child, the American chef, author, and television personality recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public. This film will leave you with a fervent desire to cook and taste all the delightful recipes shown in the movie. The movie achieves a factual view of Julia Child’s exploits through a powerful combination of highly lauded actors such as Meryl Streep, as Julia Child, and Amy Adams, as Julie Powell.  Julie & Julia is a fantastic comedy that will make you crave all the delectable food on-screen, and spit it out shortly after in a fit of laughter.
This movie is based on the true story of Julie Powell in 2002, a young, frustrated woman with an unsatisfying job that embarks on an audacious project: she vows to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Childs’ landmark cookbook. The story converges on Julia Child’s past as a similarly exasperated chef, and although these two stories are set vastly different times, they mirror each other, and reflect very similar situations both women went through. While Julie moves to Queens, NY so that her husband could be closer to his job, her only sanctuary was in her cooking. Her college friends have their life the way they always wanted; while she can’t even finish writing a book. She starts her personal challenge as a way to reinvigorate her life, and proceeds to write a blog about her experience in the endeavor, all while hoping it gets noticed by a publisher so that she can become a published author as her college dream was. On the other hand, we have Julia Child in 1949.  She is relatively young, and lives in Paris with her husband, Paul Child. She loves the Paris life, but most importantly, the food.  She decides to take a cooking class because of her love for French cuisine. She believes she’s not at the beginner level, and so she is able to convince the arrogant Cordon Bleu, her instructor, to enroll her in a class for aspiring professional chefs.  She passes, and goes on to become a chef master herself.  She acquires students, but all of them being young men, they see her as no more than a bored housewife, and she tries to prove them wrong by cooking with bravery, far from the norm. Eventually, Julia meets Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, who are working on an English language French cookbook. She becomes a decidedly important collaborator on that book which she wants to make accessible for the average American, and although publishing it was a challenge, they were able to succeed.
The viewer takes a lesson from negative experiences in the movie, particularly observing as Julie’s challenge made her push her husband away; an important point the story makes is to realize that obsessing over success isn’t worth it if the repercussions mean losing someone you love. Ultimately, one of life’s ultimate goals, as taught by the film, is in self-improvement that leads to the improvement of others; as Julia passed on her knowledge of French cuisine to a younger generation, and Julie also transferred her knowledge in book form eventually, she opened cycle of master and apprentice once more, with the possibility of changing the world of cuisine just as her predecessor did. The actors did a fantastic job portraying these figures, and I believe they were incredibly well-chosen; and not only that, but the screenplay was similarly well-written. The people playing the key characters in this story seemed extremely genuine, emotional, and utterly realistic; a recipe for success in any movie whose premise requires the observer to feel what the characters feel, to impact the psyche and delight the senses.  Apparently, the movie industry thought similarly, and lauded veteran actress Meryl Streep with the Golden Glove Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture in 2010, the Satellite Award for Best Performance in a Motion Picture in 2009, Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in 2010, as well as both the New York and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in 2009.
There is ample evidence that this movie is an absolute work of art, and merits its 7/10 IMDb rating. It’s extremely enjoyable to watch all the fiercely appetizing food come to life through Julia Child’s wisdom, and Julie Powell’s talented hands. The viewer feels as if he were present during the events of the movie, and both of these amazing women’s experiences resonate with the experience of the common man and woman as well; it leads us to think that no matter how hard a task may seem, or how late you may think you are to achieve greatness, you must try your best, and more often than not, spectacular results await. This is a highly recommended movie to anyone interested in the culinary arts, both creator and consumer; this was a truly satiating film.