Vienna, Schubert and the post-war fresco
The new appointment with the 80s anime column does not take us to the future, as often happened in previous episodes, but to the past. The historical period in which we find ourselves is that of the end of WWI. The story of Giulia, wild rose in fact it begins in 1918, the year that marks the end of the Great War. Arrived for the first time in Italy in 1983, on Rete 4, the anime, which has only 13 episodes, was born in 1979 by the Japanese animation studio Dax International. Against the background of the story of the poor protagonist, the vision of post-war Austriabetween uncomfortable situations in contrast with the great beauty of its most characteristic.
Julie, wild rose: the story
A tragedy that changes everything
As mentioned, we are in 1918, the First World War is over but the poor Julie, a Tyrolean girl, has been orphaned. A bomb has indeed caused the death of his parents, leaving her alone at just 11 years old. Her uncle Carl Klemen takes care of her and welcomes her kindly together with her wife Clara into her family. The two have three children: the eldest Johann, Tania (who is the same age as Julie), and the pestiferous Henrich. Despite the initial difficulties in adapting to the new life, Julie immediately has an excellent bond with her family and especially with Tania, with whom she also shares school and class.
The meeting with Alan
It is a school that then wants further dynamics in the life of our protagonist. Julie, before starting the school year, runs into Alan, a blond-haired boy who is almost there with the car. This incident will trigger a sort of dislike of her from Julie, which will continue when she discovers that Alan is not only a classmate than her, but is also more coveted by girls than she is. If Julie is skeptical of the boy, Alan is immediately interested in her and, therefore, in getting to know her. This attitude will unleash Carolina’s jealousiesbeautiful and talented girl of the class as well as rich and spoiled.
The rivalry with Carolina
It’s not just the affection for Alain that triggers the rivalry between Julie and Carolina. A very important part of the lessons that are given to pupils concerns music and, in particular, the singing. Carolina is among the most popular voices in the class along with Tania, Julie’s cousin. The latter was chosen for a concert when she lost her voice due to tension. Instead of asking Carolina it is Julie who takes her place on that occasion, doing very well. This focuses the spotlight on the girl’s talent, however, unleashing the jealousies and revenge of Carolina, ready for anything, she too to use the influence of her powerful father, in order to dominate her.
A family in difficulty
If Julie has to contend with Carolina’s wrath in class, at home things for the Klemen family start to go male. The uncle of the protagonist risks being fired after suffering an accident and this puts the whole family in trouble, now that there is a mouth above all more to feed. In addition, the eldest son Johann is determined to leave the glass factory because he is eager to become a violin maker. When the uncle loses his job, everyone tries to support the family, including Julie who secretly starts working in a bakery. Luckily it will be Alan’s father who will promote a job to his uncle: the man wants to set up a small glass art factory and proposes that he be its director. In this factory, which will later be successful, Klemen will hire his son Johann, who is also eager to return to work alongside him.
The end
We come to the end of our story when the school’s music teacher, noticing Julie’s great talent, chooses her as solo voice for the choir of the Cathedral of S. Carlo, the largest and most important church in Vienna. Jealous Carolina refuses to accept him and sets up a trap for Julie: a pit in which to drop her. By a twist of fate, however, she ends up breaking her leg. Faced with this great wickedness, even her few friends abandon her but not Julie who, instead, goes to see her with sincere affection. The gesture dissolves any disagreement between the due that, finally, become friends. Finally comes the day of the concert which turns out to be a huge success for Julie. The girl has in front of her a bright future in singing and in love with Alan and, by now, she is a real Viennese girl.
Julie, wild rose: curiosities and considerations
A postwar fresco
Julie’s story is entirely permeated with the theme of war. The protagonist is an orphan of the Great War and, from Tyrol, she moves to Vienna, a city that has been defeated by the conflict. From the very first minutes of the anime, the economic situation in which a large part of the population lives after the difficult historical period is highlighted, as well as told. In the anime there are scenes, which seem almost painted, of people living on the street, of those who trudge after losing their jobs or, again, of those who have lost their homes and families. Julie herself has lost everything and is forced to leave her house to start a new life in Vienna, this war wound. The protagonist is therefore made representative of the situation of many war orphansshowing the difficulties but also the courage that follows from a similarity drama.
‘Tourist’ propaganda
The scenes of the anime that highlight the difficult economic situation of Vienna and, more generally, of Austria after the Great War, is contrasted by the strong will of highlight the beauties of the city. A will that appears evident from the first episode of Julie – wild rose. The idea is given by the protagonist’s meeting with a man, who we will discover to be a well-known violin maker. Julie, intrigued by a statue of Schubert, asks the man who she is; this begins a chat during which not only the man tells her who the great musician is, among the symbols of Vienna, – citing, moreover, ‘The Wild Rose’, a song that the protagonist sings and which will be a symbol of her success in singing – but personally accompanies her through the landmarks of Vienna like a real tour guide. The walk is therefore enlivened by the vision of the most non-city monuments, all on the notes of her most non-musicians. “Even if we lost the Great War, the culture of our Vienna is still alive”the man will then conclude, summarizing the meaning of the whole scene.
A particular graphic choice
From the point of view of the realization it should be noted that to the usual animated scenes comes flanked by the use of repertoire television images. These are not exactly excellent videos which, however, serve to revive the true spirit of the cities in those years. These films have Tyrolean folk dances or views of Vienna but also moments from the Great War, used at the beginning of history to mainly record the viewer in the historical picture. Clearly those concerning the city of Vienna seem like pure advertising to encourage tourism in Austria.
The acronym
Julie – rosa di bosco has more than one Italian theme. The first was made by Marco Fapani and sung by Cristina Colangelo. Another is instead written by Arnaldo Capocchia and Douglas Meakin and performed by Rocking horse. Finally, from 2020, the series was broadcast in the Contactoons container and, for the occasion, a new theme song was created, written by Santo Verduci and Gennaro De Stefano and sung by Santo Verdi together with Michela Tupputi.
I characters
Giulia – The protagonist of the anime. She is an 11-year-old Tyrolean girl who, after the death of her parents, goes to live in Vienna.
Julie’s mother and father – They are two Tyrolean peasants whose names are not revealed. They will die from a war bomb.
Carlo Clemente – Julie’s uncle and master glassmaker. He welcomes Julie with joy, despite the financially difficult time.
Chiara Clemente – Julie’s aunt, welcomes the girl as a daughter.
John – Eldest son of the Klemen, he works with his father in the glass factory but dreams of becoming a famous violin maker.
Tania – Julie’s cousin, she is her same age and is in fact also a classmate. She will always be supportive, a great friend.
Henrich – He is the smallest of the Klemen family. Spiteful and mischievous, he will have more than a few bickering with Julie.
pepper – It’s a chipmunk Julie brings with her from Tyrol.
Miss Teresa – Julie’s teacher strict and shrewish. She will soften and find Tommaso, her old love, then the man of her life.
Mr. Harvey – He’s Julie’s music teacher. He will propose her as a soloist in the choir of the Cathedral of S. Carlo.
Oskar – An elderly luthier friend of Julie’s and the first one he meets once in Vienna. He will be the one to show you the beauties of the city.
ALa – The brightest and most coveted boy in Julie’s school. A great love will be born between him and Julie.
Carolina – The student who becomes Julie’s rival and does everything to hinder her. In the end, a gesture of great altruism by her protagonist will make them become friends with her.
Curious to rediscover other stories related to 80s anime? We flanked Hurricane Polimar in his missions, cheered on the protagonists of Take the world and go and solve difficult cases with Angia girl. We sang and cried with Jane and Micci, experienced the dramatic path of Remi and we are passionate about the sporting challenges of Holly and Benji, Shingo And Mila and Shiro. But also a lot, more!