I watched this last night courtesy of NetFlix and it’s still on my mind this AM.
Famed filmmakers the Maysles Brothers were originally looking for background on the Kennedy family & stumbled across these Bouviers. They became entranced with the women & switched the focus of the film to them. When the film came, out the officials of East Hampton “raided” (Little Edie’s term) them & slapped all sorts of violations on the house. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was so embarrassed by the publicity of the film that she sent workers to make the house livable.
It’s - I don’t know the word - sad and stunning and rich and desolate. I cried at the end and I haven’t cried over a film in years.
It’s the story of “Big” Edie Beale Bouvier (in her late 70s) and “Little” Edie, her daughter (56). They lived in a 28 room East Hampton mansion - “Grey Gardens” - that was decaying around their feet and infested with raccoons (which Little Edie apparently encouraged by leaving loaves of Wonder Bread & boxes of cat food in the attic), fleas and 8 cats allowed to do whatever - wherever. Big Edie is mobile - barely, but spends most of her time in a filthy bed covered in detritus of a former life, where she was obviously very wealthy and a talented singer. She died about a year after the film’s release.
Little Edie is alternately loving and raging with venom towards her mother. There are rants about show biz careers cut short & suitors discouraged. Little Edie died in relative comfort in Palm Beach FL in 2001 or 2002.
I know am not doing this film justice, but if you haven’t seen it, I really highly recommend it.
If anyone has seen it, here’s a link to the current story of “The Marble Faun”, which I found interesting:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/060306ta_talk_green
There is a musical on Broadway now based on the Edies, and a film scheduled to start starring Jessica Lange as Big Edie & Drew Barrymore as Little Edie.
VCNJ~