betsy west

Icon is a difficult word to wear but Julia Child steps into it easily. She was the first celebrity chef on television, she made Americans more adventurous with our food, and she did it with whimsical charisma, technical skill, and an indomitable business sense. Julia gives us a window into her many facets, in large part narrated by the grande dame herself, but also through footage going back to her early 20s, and through the remembrances of family, friends, and her celebrity chef scions.

Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, Julia combines crowd pleaser and feminist perspective. It celebrates Child’s accomplishments and outsized personality as she became an unlikely TV star at age 50 when her cooking show The French Chef debuted on Boston’s WGBH in 1963. Child’s low budget show was unedited, allowing for the ad libs and occasional gaffes that endeared her to viewers.

One probably should not watch this doc on an empty stomach, given how West and Cohen recreate Child’s famous dishes, including a delectable succulent chicken laid out like a centerfold that might just require an X rating, delicate filets of sole drenched in butter and a delicious example of beef bourguignon, whose aroma seems to virtually waft from the screen.