The book Nora Ephron at the Movies insists on the literary career of the journalist. Author of multiple essays on New York as an urban space but also of texts on feminism and love, she is distinguished by her frank and unadorned style. In 2006, she published I Feel Bad About My Neck : And Other Toughts About Being A Woman. The author complains about the condition of her neck, the changes due to old age and menopause. Refractory to cosmetic surgery, she testifies to an intimacy that is still invisible. However, it does not hesitate to take its source from other texts including that of Julie Powell, Julie and Juliawhich has too often been reduced to an “ode” to housewives. Or how to miss the point: the crossroads of two destinies, that of Julia Childrenowned cook and that of Julie Powell who years later enjoys reproducing the 524 recipes of his idol.
Passionate about the culinary arts herself, Nora Ephron films here with all its know-how (crowned by an ultra-chic aesthetic) a story of heritage and passion. While today we are filming Carmen Berzzato (Jeremy Allen White) in the restaurant The Bearthe filmmaker captures the butter melting on potatoes before its time. Genius. For the occasion, she brings together Meryl Streep (her again!) but also a little news by the name ofAmy Adams. As the film illustrates, Julie Powell sets a goal through the preparation of his French dishes. At the same time, in 1950, at a time when high-level cuisine was not or only barely accessible to women, Julia Child has emerged as a leading figure in French gastronomy on television. In this, Julie and Julia unfolds like a refreshing comedy, the director’s latest work and so important in her prize list.
The filming of Julie & Julia with Nora Ephron and Meryl Streep© Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
A personal cinema…
Through her achievements but especially her novels, the women of Nora Ephron convulse deep wounds. In The burnher first film, she chose Meryl Streep to play the role of Rachel. This last meeting Mark (Jack Nicholson), also a journalist, during a social evening. It was love at first sight and very quickly their first child was born. Despite all the love she has for him, she realizes that Mark is having an affair during the pregnancy. This injury or even burn (hence the title) upsets the main character. In the book, Ilana Kaplanexplain :”She tested the pain and rage in The burn and in this case, art imitates life”.
Faced with infidelity, Rachel who is none other than Nora Ephron herself, no longer believes in marriage, this institution that is held out to young girls in the making. But at no time does the director fall into the pathos. On the contrary, humor is integrated into the story. In reality, Ephron is married to Carl Bernsteinone of the journalists behind the Watergate. She quickly realizes the multiple connections he maintains in their common environment. Equipped with a sharp pen, the author uses her inner rage to create a fiction with auto-biographical overtones. Released in 1986, The burn also films divorce and the complex choices of a single mother head-on. Meryl Streep is true to herself, talented, dressed in a bucolic nightgown and a lover of pasta with carbonara sauce after sex.
