I digress. Let's talk about the movie shall we? Gilbert said it best when asked her thoughts on the film adaptation of her bestselling novel, "It was my book, but it's Julia's movie." I couldn't have said it better myself. Since Liz Gilbert appears in every scene of the movie, Ryan Murphy, director of EPL and co-creator of the hit TV show Glee, had to cast an actress who could enrapture the audience throughout the 2 hours and 30 minutes. Who better than Julia Roberts? In the words of Murphy, "To be quite honest, the reason I did it is because I wanted to work with Julia... I call her Lady Julia."
We swoon and we cheer for her during her journey of self-discovery. It's a journey of finding balance in her life. The fascinating people she befriends along the way (including characters played by James Franco, Richard Jenkins, and Javier Bardem) are her compass and her teachers, guiding her and imparting indelible life lessons and pearls of wisdom including la dolcezza di non fare niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. An Italian gentleman teaches that it's generally an American belief to feel we can only relax when we've earned the right to do so. Italians apparently don't share this same sentiment, rather, fully (and often!) relishing in the enjoyment of life (hence the copious amounts of wine!).
Billy Crudup plays Steven, Gilbert's ex-husband. The scenes that Roberts and Crudup share are some of the more emotionally raw in the movie. While reading the novel a few years back, I remember feeling that, during the demise of their marriage, Gilbert was a tad unfair to Steven, suddenly declaring that she was unhappy and wanted out. If I was Steven I would've thought, "Wow, thanks for the heads up!" But since I wasn't a witness to their marriage I have to assume that Gilbert's plea for divorce is for the best. During her darkest moment, she desperately cries out for help from the floor of her bathroom and it moved me to tears. During that scene in the film I thought, "Don't worry, Julia! Soon you'll be stuffing your face with pasta and all your worries will be eased with chianti!" Not to mention in real life, Gilbert ends up married to Felipe (Bardem), the Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. In her latest book, Committed, Gilbert frankly examines through historical research, interviews, and personal reflection what the institution of marriage is all about.
When I heard EPL was being adapted for film, I was curious to see how a book consisting mainly of internal thoughts from the author would be made visible on the big screen (also, can they make the part about India more interesting? With the exception of Richard from Texas, I became bored with Gilbert's repeated attempts to meditate properly). I needn't have worried. The movie was just as enriching if not more so than Gilbert's memoir. Bottom line, Gilbert's story could be anyone's journey of self-discovery: a mom, an aunt, a sister, a friend, a neighbor... yourself. "From ruin comes reconstruction" is a poignant line in the movie that applies not just to the Roman ruins but to the human soul.
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