A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Directed by Istvan Szabo, whose Sunshine inspired a wonderful Maurice Jarre score, Being Julia tells the story of a group of actors in London in the 1930s, concentrating on a young actor who falls for the leading actress of the day but quickly wants to trade her in for a younger version when her star begins to wane.  Starring a ravishing-looking Annette Bening, the original music by Mychael Danna is equally ravishing and sumptuous.  

It is somewhat monothematic, but what a theme it is.  Memorable and infectiously charming (qualities which I was beginning to think had been barred from film music) it leaves a big impression.  Frequently featuring a wonderful violin solo by Stephen Sitarski, it is certainly one of the best film themes of 2004.  It certainly forms the basis for a number of Danna's cues, but there are other highlights besides, including the wonderful vignettes "Avice Takes a Bow", "For Old Times' Sake" and especially the gorgeous, mock-dramatic "The Stage is Set".  Things get rounded off with the longest arrangement of the main theme in "Quite Alone".

The album presents 22 tracks of Danna's score, but because many of the tracks are so short ("Jimmy's Magic" is only 13 seconds!) this only amounts to about 23 minutes.  The short tracks aren't much of a problem - while you do long for some of the material to be fleshed out, everything is a self-contained little gem, and the period songs work well enough.  Danna's scores tend to be rather quirky and the defining adjective may be "small", but this is anything but.  It's a real joy and one of the scores which may fall below the radar because it's for a low-profile film, but which deserves much attention.

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Tracks

1. Curtain Up (1:09)
2. The Real World (1:36)
3. The Lift (:40)
4. Bei Mir Bist Du Schön The Andrews Sisters (2:44)
5. Farewell My Love (:54)
6. Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries The Mills Brothers (1:24)
7. Never Seen them Shine Like That Before (:49)
8. Birthday Presents (1:00)
9. It Will Only End in Tears (:22)
10. They Didn't Believe Me Denzel Sinclair (1:24)
11. Charades (1:02)
12. I Saw the Light On (2:42)
13. Am I Late? (:43)
14. Not That Sort of Girl (:57)
15. Take a Break (1:43)
16. Yes, Yes Andrew Paton Story Busher (2:56)
17. Avice Gets the Part (:29)
18. Reunion (:43)
19. Play for the Other Side (:39)
20. Mad About the Boy Denzel Sinclair (1:59)
21. Jimmy's Magic (:13)
22. Avice Takes a Bow (:42)
23. For Old Times' Sake (:43)
24. Laird O'Drumblair (:46)
25. The Stage is Set (:31)
26. Curtain Call (1:23)
27. Smoke Gets in your Eyes Alison Jiear (2:18)
28. Quite Alone (2:42)