Unconvincing 'Julia'
Sachitra MAHENDRA and Ruwini JAYAWARDANA
Even before it hit local theatres, 'Julia' cut a wide swath for its
high definition technology and premiere in London. A great achievement
for Sampath Sri Roshana and Charith Abeysinghe, in their maiden shot.
'Julia' is a movie with stunning cinematography, photography and cast
performance, without doubt. Still and all, the movie disappoints us
because it looks like an empty-shelled blockbuster. It would have been a
virtuoso movie perhaps, if only the script had an expert touch.
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Scenes from ‘Julia’ Graphic Design by H.U.C. Alwis |
The movie begins with a clip of a plane descending to the island and
Dev's hunt to seek revenge from his friend. The happy-go-lucky playboy
Dilrukshan is enjoying life at a pub and heads off to see his girl
friend Julia. She is a lovely, playful, energetic young lass, basking in
the love of her parents. Her aristocratic family background makes Julia
look at life through rose tinted glasses. She is made too sweet to
become a victim of unforeseen circumstances.
The climax of the comedy of errors occurs when Julia's father banks
on his personal mafia to cut out the affair. Mafia leader brings us back
to olden days when Joe Abeywickrama acted as a clown. Sriyantha Mendis -
with respect to his previous performances of excellence actually proves
nothing more than what he looks like throughout the movie.
What exactly makes Dev avenge Dilru is still a mystery. Some thugs
approach his sister, leaves him bruised on the floor and Dilru running
away is what all that episode about.
High-principled hero
The real culprit whether it is Dilru or the thugs - behind his
sister's death is not exposed even in the flashback.
Letting Julia's father see his thugs manhandle his own daughter seems
a new plot twist. But it's too odd to see such things in human
relations. Will a caring father ever let thugs approach his daughter, or
will the thugs dare touch the daughter of their boss?
Dev is the high-principled hero and Dilruk is the high-spirited
villain in 'Julia'. We cannot spot a single virtue in Dilruk because Dev
grabs every opportunity. For a man like Dev, it is quite unlikely to
give up his girl friend, Shakie, in the UK just because she was forced
to be intimate with Dilrukshan. Better yet, the scripter is in a hurry
to clear the hurdles for Dev and Julia to unite, because no union is
possible between the villain and the heroine. The well foreseen
conclusion comes up halfway through the picture.
Dilruk is shrewd enough to leave Julia for England to shag Shakie,
but doesn't turn out smart enough to evade Dev. Even more comical is the
scene which follows: a meek looking Dilru struts behind Dev to marry the
girl he had tricked and abandoned a few months back. Why couldn't Dilru
escape from Dev after he was let loose from Shakie's home? Dilru's
actions and body language however suggest that he is no easy customer
and it is ironic that Dev should let him go after his attempt to
blackmail Shakie.
Strong points
Luckily the episode of Dilruk's father brightens the movie, because
Ravindra Randeniya does his part perfectly, and his role is smoothly
scripted. Senet Dikkumbura takes an extra step in his acting, and the
scene sequence has a twinge of symbolism as well. However this doesn't
last long.
One of the strong points of 'Julia' is, perhaps, the number of
picturesque locations in the music visuals. If the movie has the sunny
part of catchy songs, then we feel it should have accommodated more
dance scenes too. Though it starts on an interesting note, the tale
turns stale: as the incident of a playboy abandoning an innocent girl
after she gets pregnant is an overly used theme.
Limited scope
However the method in which flashbacks are portrayed with a flash of
light is more annoying than artistic. The scenes are broken onto too
many fragments and is more painful rather then appealing to the eyes of
the viewers.
Young producer and actor Charith Abeysinghe has taken quite a task by
portraying the role of the rough of the tale. His performance, though
needs a little more brush-up, sets aside the fact that you do not
necessarily need to be put in the shoes of the hero to shine through.
Sampath Sri Roshan as Dev has done justice to his part as an actor too.
But these two young chaps have a long way ahead to mark their position
as director and scripter. The charming Nadeesha Hemamali simply becomes
a rag doll in the hands of the two male leads. Her potentiality as an
actress is given a limited scope to sparkle. 'Julia' is more of a
thriller than of romantic genre.
Though suspense could have played a much broader role, the team had
failed to make use of the scenes in which they could have manipulated
the technique. |
