MISS JULIE
Starring Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell
Directed by Liv Ullmann
This latest screen adaptation of August Strindberg’s revered stage play may transpose the 1890-era action from France to Ireland but the sensibility that guides it remains distinctly Scandinavian. Aspects of Ingmar Bergman and Lars von Trier are clearly evident in the film’s focus on cruelty and the corruptive power of control.
Regrettably, writer/director Liv Ullmann – Bergman’s one-time muse and paramour who hasn’t directed a film since 2000’s Faithless – brings few interesting visual ideas to her rendering of this chamber drama. Beyond the constant use of close-ups, there are few cinematic qualities to be glimpsed here.
The tight framing is intended to further reinforce just how confined Ullmann’s players are despite the palatial home they inhabit. Much of this can be attributed to class, of course.
Aristocratic Miss Julie (Jessica Chastain) is so concerned with such matters that she’d rather euthanize her pet pug than have it bear the pups of a mongrel. Accordingly, she teases and flirts with her valet John (Colin Farrell) in a borderline sadistic manner, almost like a child might poke a worm with a stick. However, once they succumb to their baser urges, the tables quickly turn, with John suddenly empowered and conducting himself like a scoundrel.
Chastain aspires to Charlotte Gainsbourg-level anguish here, while Farrell employs those fulsome eyebrows to evoke a tormented Victorian-era Muppet. However their committed performances only enhance the sense that this is a dutiful exercise rather than an inspired one. As the slack sexual tension segues to histrionics, this two-hander fails to ever really grip viewers much less have its way with them.
