Julie Christie
Dirk Bogarde
Laurence Harvey
Roland Curran

j u l i e  c h r i s t i e  d a r l i n g

Julie Christie won an Oscar for her portrayal of Diane, an amoral model/actress who juggles several men without any regard for their feelings, just because she has a short attention span. There are some attempts to use the film as a satire of the whole international art/film/snob jet-set, including pointing out their racism and lack of real compassion for those less fortunate than themselves, but it is in reality just about Diane.

We first meet her when some workmen are putting up a billboard of her on the cover of a magazine, which is incidentally being papered over a billboard about feeding the hungry in Africa. Julie Christie's voiceover begins to tell us about her life, beginning with her work as a model. She meets Paul, a reporter who thrills her with his quick wit, connections in the literary world, and his desire to leave his wife for her. She decides he's a decent step up from her husband Tony, and they move in together.

But she's fickle, and soon his attentions are no longer enough. She models for a big makeup company, and meets Lance, a snobbish but handsome man who seems to disdain her, so he captures her interest. Paul's candle is fading, and when he finds out about her infidelity, he leaves. Her sadness only lasts long enough for her to throw herself completely at Lance. You get the picture. By the end, she's an Italian princess, and completely miserable. The film is her effort to explain how she got there.

There's no revelation, though. The only thing the film helps us understand is that she is too selfish and dense to draw any life lessons. If not for Christie's brilliant performance, I would say that this isn't much above a movie of the week. Not only that, but it has an unnecessarily ambiguous ending. Not the kind of cool ending where you sit there scratching your head, wondering in amazement. This one just leaves you scratching your head.