"There are two things I don't like about you - your face. So why don't you shut both of them&qu...
"There are two things I don't like about you - your face. So why don't you shut both of them" Felicia (Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
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Having read the book, and it coming in my top two books of all time (just below Wuthering Heights), then reading the screenplay, and basically knowing where and when everything was going to happen, I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t enjoy The Hours, the film, as much as I would have if I didn’t know so much about it. But the greatness was something much more than the good acting, the clever story, or even the nice settings; the greatness was the way you understood three helpless women who either knew death, or wanted death. Three very similar ladies, who combined together, even though so different, are somewhat the same.
The rough plot is very simple and clever. Basically, the whole plot is set around three women in different decades of the 20th Century. One in the beginning, the other in the middle, and the final in the later years. The whole film is one day in each woman’s life. All three women have a likeness, and a link to each other. That link is carried throughout the film, and is basically the basis of it. Also, the different times are important in the film. The first two women seem way before they’re time, and the final woman seems to be in the right time, but she still remains unhappy. The film is stressing that happiness is rarely had.
The first woman is Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman),
set in 1923 London. Woolf is the brilliant authoress of Mrs Dalloway, and the character in the film is based on the actual authoress. Woolf’s “day” is her writing one of her most famous novels – Mrs Dalloway. Woolf, who has just recentely suffered a nervous breakdown, and remains to hear “voices” every day, is thought of as mentally unstable by her husband, sister, and even her servants. Her day she plans out the novel in her head.
Almost 30 years later, in 1949 Los Angeles, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is reading Mrs Dalloway in bed. It’s obvious she’s been crying. What becomes more obvious as the film goes on, is how similar, mentality wise, she is to Woolf. They are extremely similar in the way they both want to get out of their lives. Both feel trapped. Isolated. Both can’t stand the thought of staying in that inhabitant any longer, and if they do they would rather die. It’s that feeling that the women feel so trapped, and if they were in a different time, they’d be able to be happy. They’d be able to lead the life they wanted to.
The third, and final, woman is Clarissa Vaughn in 1999 New York. She’s caring for her dying poet friend. It’s as if she’s only living for him. Unlike the other two women who are desperate to get out, and would do anything to leave, she wants to leave, but feels an emotional responsibility to stay with him. To care for him. Although Clarissa is socially accepted, unlike the other two women, she remains to live a dreary life, fulfilled only by her dying friend, and busy schedule. To me, Clarissa’s story is the most tragic out of them all. Because instead of the strong attitude, emotionally and physically the other two women have, Clarissa totally lacks in it, and has no one to rely on.
Written down in words, the film sounds like an average Hollywood movie, and could even be a good read. Sadly it is impossible to explain the brilliance and poignancy of the whole film, the tone, the feeling, and the deepness that makes it that bit more special and touching than other films.
All three women, Woolf officially, suffers from some kind of mental illness. Or is it, maybe, that they were just all too intelligent to be able to be thought of as “normal”. “Normal” is a word that I can imagine each women hates. It’s “normal” to do this and that. It’s as if what’s “normal” makes the women unhappy. Everything they should be doing, they don’t want to do. Not out of choice, but because if they do carry on with the “normal” life they wouldn’t be happy with themselves. And what every woman has to realise is that happiness for you is important. Caring for others is not an individual’s job.
What I disliked about the film was the lesbian thoughts from each woman. Clarissa was an outed lesbian woman, which was obviously fine. But, Woolf, a married woman, kissed her sister, and Laura, also a wife, kissed one of her neighbours, Kitty. Whilst reading the book, I was intrigued to see why they did so, and if in actual fact, they were lesbians, and were just too scared. But, their feelings were never brought to head, and I never found out why it happened. I know, think, that maybe it was intended to show the likeness of the women, and maybe not the sexual love they wanted from the other women, but the emotional love they craved, that they received from no one.
The performances from each actresses was touching, and brilliantly done. Kidman won an Oscar for her role as Woolf, which was greatly deserved. She not only did the look, the accent, and the expression right, she also managed to make us think we were actually watching Mrs Woolf in action. Moore was very strong as Laura, the housewife. She was deep, and she acted with enthusiasm, which I love to see. Finally, Streep was as strong as per usual. There was no weak point from here, and I expected no less from such a talent.
There are so many more things to add, but I’ve decided not to, as I though it would ruin the whole film for you. Sit down in front of it, knowing what you know already, and you’ll appreciate it for what it is, trust me.
Not to read Mrs Dalloway after seeing the film would be an absolute crime, and I’d advice you to read it first, to understand, and appreciated it that bit more. There are so many things, in the film that you’ll understand that bit more, and appreciate that bit more, after reading the book. The title I lent from the first line in the book, and it’s referred to many times in the film, as are so many other things. The best film adapted from a book, ever, that poignantly touches you.
Production Year: 1989 - Drama - Director: Ken Cameron - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving, Joy Smithers, Norman Kaye, Jerome Ehlers, Judy Morris
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1993 - Drama - Director: Steven Spielberg - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Embeth Davidtz, Ben Kingsley, Jonathan Sagalle
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Plissken 08.09.2001 ·
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