{"id":95213,"date":"2025-09-21T22:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T22:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95213"},"modified":"2025-09-21T22:55:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T22:55:00","slug":"were-losing-the-art-of-conversation-says-julia-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=95213","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re losing the art of conversation, says Julia Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 24 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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US actress Julia Roberts has said, \u201cWe\u2019re losing the art of conversation in humanity\u201d, as she premiered a new film about sexual assault, which is likely to divide audiences.<\/p>\n

After The Hunt, which has just launched at the Venice Film Festival, follows a student at Yale University who accuses a college professor of rape.<\/p>\n

Neither the student\u2019s nor the teacher\u2019s version of events is presented as entirely credible, and the film casts doubt on both sides.<\/p>\n

Roberts acknowledged the movie would provoke debate, commenting: \u201cWe are challenging people to have a conversation and to be excited by that or to be infuriated by that, it\u2019s up to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated in this movie in a way that does create conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts plays college professor Alma, who is caught between a star pupil named Maggie (Ayo Edebiri), and one of her fellow teachers and friends, Hank (Andrew Garfield).<\/p>\n

Roberts plays college professor Alma, whose colleague and friend Hank (Garfield, right) is accused of rape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When told that several female journalists came out of the press screening questioning the morals of the film, Roberts replied: \u201cThat\u2019s how we wanted it to feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone comes out with these different feelings, emotions and points of view. And you realise what you believe in strongly and what your convictions are, because we stir it all up for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

After The Hunt is likely to prompt similar discourse when it is released by Amazon later this year, and it could be seen as controversial for the ambiguity surrounding the student\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n

The film does not take a clear stance one way or the other, Roberts noted. \u201cIt\u2019s not so much that we\u2019re making a statement, we\u2019re just sharing these lives for this moment, and then want everyone to go away and talk to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThat to me is the most exciting bit, because we\u2019re kind of losing the art of conversation in humanity right now, and if making this movie does everything, getting everybody to talk to each other is the most exciting thing we could accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film is directed by Italy\u2019s own Luca Guadagnino, whose previous credits include Call Me by Your Name, Challengers and A Bigger Splash, while the script is written by actress Nora Garrett in her screenwriting debut.<\/p>\n

L-R: Cast members Michael Stuhlbarg, Ayo Edebiri, Julia Roberts, Chlo\u00eb Sevigny and Andrew Garfield<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere was so much rich complicatedness in all the characters, and that\u2019s just the dream,\u201d recalled Edebiri, best known for TV series The Bear.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing challenged by the type of character in the best way, by each other, that\u2019s just how you grow and that\u2019s the kind of movie I really enjoy watching. Something where you\u2019re just like, \u2018I have to go back\u2019, because maybe the vantage point I had at the beginning is completely different at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

At different points of the film, Alma leans towards different sides, as she learns more information from both parties.<\/p>\n

But Roberts rejected the suggestion that her character\u2019s partial support of Hank and doubting of Maggie revives a damaging anti-feminist narrative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily think it\u2019s reviving just an argument of women being pitted against each other or not supporting each other,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of old arguments that get rejuvenated in this movie in a way that does create conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

As more information comes to light throughout the film, Alma realises elements of her own history may have influenced the way things have unfolded.<\/p>\n

The Bear\u2019s Ayo Edebiri plays Maggie, one of Hank and Alma\u2019s star pupils<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roberts has been praised by critics for her role in the film.\u00a0The Telegraph\u2019s Robbie Collin described it\u00a0as \u201cher best performance in years\u201d while\u00a0the Times bullishly predicted\u00a0an Oscar win.<\/p>\n

But many critics took issue with the film as a whole.\u00a0Screen Daily\u2019s Nikki Baughan said\u00a0the film \u201cputs itself well before any real and valuable discussion of these deeply complex issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it may wish to spark debate,\u201d she continued, \u201cthe stance it takes on its messaging is troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s director and screenwriter \u201cseem convinced this is all very provocative, very new with its hard questions and subjective truths,\u201d\u00a0noted the Hollywood Reporter\u2019s David Rooney. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut frankly, it\u2019s very five years ago, which makes it more punishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

IndieWire\u2019s Ryan Lattanzino said\u00a0that while Guadagnino is \u201cone of the best filmmakers working\u201d, the film \u201cultimately isn\u2019t against-the-grain enough\u201d, adding: \u201cIt strives for moral ambiguity, but ends up startingly morally stark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics praised Roberts\u2019s performance but were split on the merits of the film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Garfield is best known for Spider-Man and The Social Network, and has previously been Oscar-nominated for Hacksaw Ridge and Tick Tick Boom!<\/p>\n

The British actor said there was something inherently human about the flawed nature of the characters, which is partly what attracted him to the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like, when our motivations are invisible, even to ourselves, all of us are unreliable narrators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in a culture where a perception of survival is paramount. And as we all know, human beings will behave animalistically when we are put in a position where we believe it is life or death.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I found that really interesting about this world, these characters, and how their drives, wants and needs are invisible to themselves in certain ways, and they are convincing themselves they are the hero of this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guadagnino, who is back on form after directing last year\u2019s poorly received Queer, agreed: \u201cI think it\u2019s always interesting to see what we carry without knowing we carry it within ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to see that happening in the confrontation between characters, it\u2019s fascinating. I think even the lies of people tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts, who has previously starred in Pretty Woman and Notting Hill and won an Oscar in 2001 for Erin Brockovich, said she enjoyed the opportunity to play troubled women.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrouble is where the juicy stuff is, right?\u201d she smiled. \u201cIt\u2019s all that great complexity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like dominoes of conflict, once one falls, everywhere you turn there\u2019s some new piece of conflict and challenge, and that\u2019s what makes it worth getting up and going to work in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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