Grey Gardens is a 1975 cult classic documentary following the lives of mother and daughter ,Big and Little Edie Beale. They were both once members of high society America but then their lives fell into obscurity and they became a reclusive and poor pair living in their run down mansion in the Hampton's, New York called Grey Gardens where fifty feral cats roamed .They also happened to be the aunt and cousin of former First Lady of a America Jackie Kennedy Onassis and this attracted lots of media coverage at the time in the papers causing the documentary to be made.
This film is also considered to be one of the first fly on the wall documentary's meaning the cameras are just following both the woman's day to day lives and interactions which was filmed by brothers Albert and David Mayless and also directed by them as well as Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer.
This film is tragically beautiful as the Beales tell and show you about their life and how it was but then you see how it currently is and you can't help but feel sorry for what has happened but you also see that they are quite happy with their life. Whilst watching the film, what is interspersing is the relationship between Big and Little Edie. In most to all of the scenes where they are together they mainly bitch and bicker with each other. You can tell Little Edie does not really want this life and is quite dissatisfied with everything but her mother is happy living there. On first instance you may see that there is very little love there but looking further in you can see Little Edie really does care about their mum and that is why she stays with her and while there were also other siblings Little Edie was the only one who actually stayed and looked after her. Some moments in the film are quite sad and it is because these women, especially Little Edie, talk with such passion that you believe and empathise with them.
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| Big and Little Edie while filming documentary |
You feel when they talk about things that have happened in their past that there is lots of subtext and underlying meaning that you may not get at first when watching the film but after you have thought about it for a while then some moments are very poignant.
Little Edie is a very strong character in the film. When you first see her you see her fashion sense is quite out there and makes her look even more bohemian. She has many different what she refers to as 'costumes' made from an array of household goods like towels or jumpers which she uses to cover her head which is bald as he had alopecia . She also wears many different colours and even though their houses exterior is rather grey and decrepitude but the colour comes from her outfits which matches with her bright and bubbly personality with a very distinctive way of speaking.
The film is not only about the mother and daughter but also the other people in there lives like Gardner Brooks and friend and Handyman Jerry who both appear in the film. Other characters also appear in the film and while they seem like they like the Beales there is still hesitation with them and you can see how even though these women may be lovely, their home is horrid and is not a pleasant place to be in
The success of this film also allowed different adaptations of it like a 2007 Broadway musical as well as 2009 TV film about the making of the documentary and how the pair's lives ended up like they did where Jessica Lange played big Edie and Drew Barrymore played little Edie.
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| Big and Little Edie with the handy man Jerry |
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