William Wordsworth disciplined himself to sit down every day and write. His voluminous body of cherished and anthologized work stands as a testimony to that commitment. Dana Gioia, renowned American poet and current head of the National Endowment for the Arts, worked as vice president of General Foods for many years before he began to win awards for his poetry. He would come home each night exhausted, and, after the family was in bed, force himself to rewrite whatever last paragraph he had written the previous evening. This usually served to engender a second wind. He wrote this way for years, and eventually he won the American Book Award in 2001. His coworkers didn’t even know he was a writer. In her poetry guide, Mary Oliver, also emphasizes the importance of disciplined consistency in the artist’s life. She makes the point that the muse can, contrary to popular contention, be trained to show up more consistently, if the artist disciplines himself to make the same commitment.
And yet, the very idea of disciplined control of the the creative muse seems almost antithetical to many, if not most artists. I struggle as a musician and composer on a regular basis to finish the projects I start. I am always so enamored by the intoxicating embrace of a new creation. The high brought about by the infatuation is so much easier to chase after. With art, as with life, however, the real rewards of a relationship are only realized when one is willing to push past the pursuit of adolescent delirium and rise to the challenge of disciplined consistency.
Director Nora Ephron’s track record is such that I would never have imagined myself viewing any more of her films or writing about her work …ever. I love Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Julia Child, and cooking, so I made an exception for Julie and Julia. I am exceedingly glad that I did. Julie and Julia does, unfortunately hold most of the conventions that one might expect from an Ephron film, but despite this fact, it is still a brilliant story that deals with important and inspiring ideas. It will easily be one of my top films of 2009. I am afraid that, because of its trappings, many of those ideas will be largely ignored. This is not a film review in the traditional sense. If you want one of those, just go to rottentomatoes.com and read yourself silly. I just want to address the reasons that this film resonated with me so profoundly.
Make no mistake, haute cuisine is truly an art form. Culinary art is too often disregarded as being such. This is, more than likely, due to its ephemeral nature. Nevertheless, the master chef has the ability to evoke experiences nearing the sublime on the palate. It has been proven that, the sense of smell and taste are closely linked to the memory processing centers of the brain. I believe that, because of this, many people remember the experience of a fantastic meal for decades longer than they might recall their impression of a song, a painting, a poem or even a book. Julie and Julia is about one woman’s passion for the art of cooking serving as a catalyst to inspire the art and creation of an entire country, and a new generation as well.
I heard a review of this film that claimed that the real meat of the film really was only in the biographical section telling Julia Child’s story. I must respectfully submit that these reviewers completely missed the larger purpose of this film. Julie Powell’s story represents the transformative power of the disciplined pursuit of excellence.
We see in Julie Powell a person who longs to be a writer, but who has only a half written novel and a strong lack of self-esteem. We see in Julia Child a woman passionate about food and determined to convey her enthusiasm to the world. Julia took the art of French cooking and made it her own. She combined her inexhaustible curiosity and a natural artistic ability and inspired a new era of cooking in the United Sates. Decades later her book serves as a catalyst to inspire Julie to discipline herself to pursue a difficult task. In doing so, she awakens the muse that had laid dormant in her for so long. Good art begets good art. This story should serve as an encouragement to every artist that passion is not always enough. Consistency and disciplined commitment are crucial to those that take their art seriously.
Julie and Julia is about the disciplined, consistent relationship between the artist and the muse. At the same time it is also about the rewards of a disciplined, consistent, and loving relationship between husband and wife. The film makes a point of showing the value of a loving marriage. The viewer sees, in both relationships, the beauty of a marriage that is willing to love, cherish, and support regardless of foibles and trials. The respective husbands play a pivotal role as loving supporters of Julie and Julia’s successes. We see both strong women, and strong men who choose to live in relationship with one another come what may. In a world that grows consistently more and more cynical regarding marriage, this is a refreshing perspective to see. Hollywood is always much more interested in finding out how the love story begins. Julie and Julia is a film that celebrates how the story continues in the face of both rewards and trials.