Julia

What a remarkable woman, and this doc does an excellent job of portraying Child's humanity, passion, and cultural impact. Well-paced with a lovely score, visually pleasing B-roll, heaps of archival footage, and talking-head testimonials from people who knew or were impacted by Child, all poignantly punctuated throughout with the voice of Julia herself in the form of voiceover narration taken from interviews given during her lifetime.

My only complaint is that frequently there are shown passages from journal entries and letters written by Child and her husband Paul, but they are displayed in a handwritten font that was a bit too small, such that I found it somewhat difficult to read at a glance. I had to often pause and/or skip back to catch what was written.

Overall, a definite recommend for anyone interested in the learning more about the life of the original celebrity chef and an undeniable American cultural icon.

Julia Child was such a larger than life person that it's no surprise that she has had a theatrical film (JULIE & JULIA) and a current TV series (HBO's Julia) made about her in the years since her passing. JULIA is a feature documentary that sort of bridges the gap between those two projects.

Directed by RGB filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West JULIE paints a pretty clear picture of Child's life story. Like RGB, this plays very much as an authorized biography (Child's books and her foundation are credited) so don't expect too much in the way of deep critique; Although it is mentioned that Child wasn't the greatest in sharing credit with her co-authors on her breakthough book, Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. Child was also seen as slow to accept social progress and modern cuisine.

Child (who was also a local hero in Boston where her PBS show originated) is seen as a lively presence who was both driven by her evangelizing over her cooking and a devoted wife. Indeed, JULIA is really two love stories: with her husband, Paul Child and with French Cooking (well, maybe three - Butter!).

At is core, this doc is a love story. Love between Julia and her TV audience, love of food, and the love she shared with her beloved husband Paul. Julia Child had an amazing back story. There is much to learn about her childhood and career before she went to France. She was a woman before her time. In my view she was the culinary version of Eleanor Roosevelt. Wonderful home movie footage and interviews provide color to her story. It was lovely to learn about her activism in the women's and gay rights movement. Best of all is her love story with Paul Child- a story that is heartwarming and sexy!

The love, enjoyment and wonder that filled the life of this remarkable lady is shared and felt as you watch and listen. It also makes plain that the (mostly) well intentioned parodies of her voice, mannerisms and actions are as much a pale imitation of her as the various attempts to showcase her achievements and impact. This film does a wonderful job of seeing her as she seemingly was. What she felt, how she felt and what she did and why. Watch and enjoy and share the love.

"Julia"

Julia was more than a cook. She was a cultural force. That summation of cooking and TV phenomenon Julia Child begins an exploration into how one of America's most unique television-era and literary figures jump-started a food revolution. "Julia" brings to life the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child from her well-to-do childhood in Pasadena, California, to the 'Far East' during 'World War II', where as an OSS worker she met her future husband Paul Child. One of the few women to attend Paris 'Le Cordon Bleu' school, Julia Child became a bestselling author in her 50s thanks to the seminal cookbook 'Mastering The Art Of French Cooking'.

An appearance on Boston public television led to her mega-successful public TV show 'The French Chef', decades of celebrity, and a dedication to teaching Americans the joys of cooking. "Julia" is the story of a woman conquering the male-dominated food world, but it's also a feminist love story; Paul Child served as his wife's fiercest advocate and loudest cheerleader. "Julia" unwraps how one of the modern era's most entertaining and vibrant personalities sparked a re-evaluation of the culinary arts and a love of food in the United States as she seasoned her days with romance, curiosity, and a recipe for living life to the fullest. It's the empowering story of a woman who found her purpose, and her fame, at 50, and took America along on the whole delicious journey.

The love of cooking is now central to American culture, with an appreciation for the artistry of preparing delicious cuisine filling 'Instagram' accounts, 'Twitter' feeds, airwaves, blogs, and bookshelves. It's a complete generational shift from the way Americans used to see food, which in the 'Mad Men' era of 60-plus years ago ran the gamut from blood-red meat and potatoes to unimaginative processed food. That's, until one woman changed American palettes; Julia Child brought continental recipes and an excitement about the experience of cooking to kitchens across the United States with her bestselling 1961 book 'Mastering The Art Of French Cooking', and then brought her playful and unique personality and her love of food into homes with her groundbreaking syndicated program 'The French Chef', which ran from 1963 to 1973. "Julia" shows how the standard at the time for local television programs was low-budget academic shows, with stiff and academic hosts seemingly. We're going to be comprehensive here and do a magnum opus of French cooking as it had never been done before. It was a big, serious book by a woman, an encyclopedia of food from another culture.

The book meant a lot to people and symbolized something in the culture and especially to American women. And when she bursts onto the airwaves in the 1960s, it was a time people thought there was a certain way a woman on TV was supposed to be, they should have a quiet voice, be demure and petite, preferably blonde, certainly young, and either a sex bomb or a quote-unquote housewife type with every hair in place. Julia was the opposite of all of that, and it was because she became a television star by happenstance. She was a real human being with a great wacky personality, and it turns out, people really liked that. She brought a very French philosophy that food is sensual, and eating meals isn't a boring thing you have to do; it's one of the great pleasures of the world. That's a fairly new idea for a lot of Americans. We take it for granted now that we've all of these cooking shows, but before Julia, there wasn't much. She was unique as a personality in the '70s, and then in the '80s, as cable television took off and the 'Food Network' and other channels began to see people responding to cooking, the genre grew. It cut across generations to people who aspired to cook and who enjoyed watching other people cook. In 2004, Julia Child succumbed to kidney failure, passing away at the age of 91.

When you think about the great food personalities on TV now, Julia's idea about cooking is very much a part of it. Food is not just a series of steps to prepare a meal. It's about making a festive, pleasurable experience for us all to share. The emotional impact of food is huge. When you're looking at food, it's as a combination of all the senses: The visual, how you're smelling different ingredients, the way they dissolve on your taste buds, the texture of it. When you're cooking, it's about anticipation and understanding how you're building the meal. Through the macro food photography, the film brings the audience up close and personal in order for them to see the steam, see the bubbles bursting in gravy, see mmmmmmmm slowed down, gives us inspiration. It's amazing how alive those food sections feel, partly because of the sound design. Something about seeing those dishes being made just bring to mind a delightful, rolling river.

Written by Gregory Mann.