Reposting this in slightly edited form from my myspace blog...
I've had this movie Grey Gardens in my DVD queue for a really long time - I think they may only have the one copy! But it finally arrived the other day, I watched it last night and I have to say that it's deserving of the lavish praise it's received and the cult status it's obtained over the past three decades.
Ebert's review from 1976 provides some excellent background info.
It's a sad and cautionary documentary exploration of these two lives, Big Edith and Little Edie, a mother and daughter whose selves have become inextricably intertwined in a far less than healthy way. But it's bright and beautiful and high-spirited as well - in the end I'm inclined to think maybe we're all bat-shit crazy and some just care more about hiding it than others. It's hard to know exactly what to say about this movie - it's hard for me to imagine anyone not being deeply affected by seeing it...
I've had this movie Grey Gardens in my DVD queue for a really long time - I think they may only have the one copy! But it finally arrived the other day, I watched it last night and I have to say that it's deserving of the lavish praise it's received and the cult status it's obtained over the past three decades.
Ebert's review from 1976 provides some excellent background info.
It's a sad and cautionary documentary exploration of these two lives, Big Edith and Little Edie, a mother and daughter whose selves have become inextricably intertwined in a far less than healthy way. But it's bright and beautiful and high-spirited as well - in the end I'm inclined to think maybe we're all bat-shit crazy and some just care more about hiding it than others. It's hard to know exactly what to say about this movie - it's hard for me to imagine anyone not being deeply affected by seeing it...