Now that its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has been locked in, we have a first trailer for Liv Ullmann’s Miss Julie, an 1880s-set erotic thriller about the power struggle between an aristocratic woman and her father’s sexually frustrated valet. With the sublime Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell leading the cast, which also includes Samantha Morton, this is going to be one to watch.
An adaptation of the famed play by August Strindberg, Miss Julie looks familiar but still extremely promising in terms of its acting, visual appearance and framing. Ullmann (Sofie, Faithless) may be just the director to reintroduce this seminal play to a new audience, and Farrell and Chastain certainly seem like suitable leads for the job. Morton, too, should provide ample dramatic pathos in her key supporting role.
The trailer is filled with tantalizing glimpses at scenes and some very steamy dialogue, both of which suggest that the bodice-ripping nature of Strindberg’s original work has been preserved. Still, this looks a lot more tense and volatile than previous adaptations – a good thing, to be sure.
Check out the trailer for Miss Julie below.
Taking place at a large country estate in Britain over the course of one 1880s midsummer night, Miss Julie explores the brutal, flirtatious power struggle between Julie and John – a young aristocratic woman and her father’s valet.
She is all hauteur longing for abasement; he, polished but coarse. The two of them held together by mutual loathing and attraction. At turns seductive and tender, savage and bullying, their story builds inevitably to a mad, impulsive tryst.
Plans are made in desperation, a vision of a life together – unsure if the morning light then brings hope or hopelessness, Julie and John find their escape in an act that is as sublime and horrific as anything in Greek tragedy.
Liv Ullman’s Miss Julie will skillfully weave this great original story of the battle between the sexes and the classes.
