Drawing Inspiration

Yesterday I decided to take a break from all the heavy films I'd been watching of late. After 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, I just did not have the energy for any more thematic elements. I curled up last night to watch The Rescuers, a vastly underappreciated Disney gem.
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If you've seen it, you remember Madame Medusa, one of the most hysterical Disney villains ever. For some reason last night when I saw her I was strongly reminded of someone. I thought perhaps I was just remembering her from all the times I watched this movie growing up, and so I tried to put it out of my mind.
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But the feeling that I knew someone like her was persistent. And then it hit me:

It's uncanny. The vibrant red hair and green eyes, the floppy, sagging anatomy and ill-fitting dresses, the drunken manner in which they stumble about, the get-rich-quick schemes that involve kidnapping youngsters, the bossy, inconsiderate attitudes toward the men in their lives. Julia and Medusa could be sisters.
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If Tilda Swinton announced that Madame Medusa was an inspiration in tackling the role of Julia, I would not be surprised.

Oscar-Winning Baddies

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Some of my favorites from the past 20 years. I almost included Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bulow, but innocent until proven guilty, right? Christoph Waltz's Colonel Hans Linda has a decent shot at joining these ranks next March. We'll have to wait and see.

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Have I missed any? Who are your favorites? Where does Hans Landa rank amongst other infamous screen villains?

JULIA

Screenplay by Michael Collins, Camille Natta, Aude Py, and Erick Zonca
Directed by Erick Zonca

Tilda Swinton
Saul Rubinek
Kate del Castillo
Aidan Gould

Premiere date: February 9, 2008 (Berlin International Film Festival)
R for pervasive language, some violent content and brief nudity.

Julia is an alcoholic. She is a manipulative, unreliable, compulsive liar, all strung out beneath her still flamboyant exterior. Between shots of vodka and one-night stands, Julia gets by on nickel-and-dime jobs. Increasingly lonely, the only consideration she receives comes from her friend Mitch, who tries to help her. But she shrugs him off, as her alcohol-induced confusion daily reinforces her sense that life has dealt her a losing hand and that she is not to blame for the mess she has made of it.

Glimpsing imminent perdition, and after a chance encounter with Elena, a Mexican woman, Julia convinces herself – as much in panic and despair as for financial gain – to commit a violent act.

As the story unfolds, Julia's journey becomes a headlong flight on a collision course, but somehow she makes the choice of life over death.

Berlin International Film Festival
Golden Berlin Bear Nominee

What I'm Watching

I'm just about to dive into Julia on DVD. I've heard great things, and I'll be back sometime this evening with my opinion.

UPDATE: I have to say I was a little disappointed. Maybe because of the way Roger Ebert raved, my expectations were too high. Overall I'd say the movie was too slow and a bit long, with an extremely unlikable character at the center of the action. Tilda was of course fantastic, and the second half with its twisty plot is definitely better than the first, but I feel indifferent after finishing it. Rent it or don't. I wouldn't call this a must-see.