Interwar · Film · 1977
Julia
Playwright Lillian Hellman agrees to smuggle money into Nazi Germany for her childhood friend Julia, now fighting fascism in secret.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 3 places.
Stop 1: University of Vienna
Lillian rushes to Vienna when Julia, a medical student, is badly hurt in a political attack, and then loses track of her.
Stop 2: Berlin
Key location
On her way to Moscow, Lillian carries the money across the border and meets Julia for a few tense minutes in a Berlin café.
Stop 3: Moscow
In a gloomy Moscow, Lillian receives news about Julia that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
What really happened
In the 1930s Vienna and Berlin were the scenes of a brutal struggle between the left and rising fascism. In February 1934 Austria's government crushed a socialist uprising in Vienna with artillery, and in Germany the Gestapo hunted down the underground networks that helped Jews and political opponents escape. Many foreign sympathisers carried money and messages for them.
The film adapts a chapter of Lillian Hellman's memoir Pentimento, but the story's truth is disputed. The psychiatrist Muriel Gardiner, an American who worked with the Austrian underground and whom Hellman never met, said she was the real model for Julia; Hellman denied it. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Vanessa Redgrave and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Julia
- Directed by
- Fred Zinnemann
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 1977
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe, Eastern Front
- Themes
- Resistance
- Politics
- Espionage
