Saturday, April 18, 2009

A raccoon's take on Grey Gardens

Posted by Buster at 10:16 PM

Grey Gardens just premiered on HBO, and I'm still in complete amazement. It was sadder and darker—at times—than I thought it would be, but also funnier—at times. It was a whole experience for me, from the performances, to the sets, to the costumes—and it was an experience that I want more of!

It's an excellent mother-daughter story that spans years, on par with greats like Imitation of Life, Stella Dallas, and Mildred Pierce.

I'm so pleased to see that an excellent documentary that was loved by many, was followed by an excellent musical that was loved by many, and is now followed by this excellent film, which I'm sure will be loved by many. It's definitely loved by this raccoon.

7 Comments

By Da'Vi on Sat Apr 18, 10:44:00 PM

Great movie. i love when lil edith ask jackie if jfk gave her crabs. lmao.

By Jill on Sat Apr 18, 11:47:00 PM

It is so sad...I linked to you.

By tydwbleach on Sun Apr 19, 01:19:00 AM

I just LOVED it but honestly I wanted to know the significance of ONE thing... When Jackie is visiting and they are in the garden and she drops her scarf on the floor.... Why did they sort of emphasize that??

Also I wished they would have shown Edie like living in FL swimming every day like they said that she did after Big Edie died... I want to know what that place looked like I want to know that she was happy at least at the END of her life you know???

I would have LOVED it to end with her once again swimming in the warm FL ocean happy as a clam and then having it say that she moved there and she died in 2002 you know?? I just spent the whole movie just WISHING she would finally be HAPPY!

By Tsagrednerp on Sun Apr 19, 10:47:00 AM

I'm sooooo happy for this site because Ive been searching all morning for Beales info. I loved it. The story was classic but I have to say that Drew Barrymore and Jessica lange were AMAZING.

The story is so captivating about these women, these socialites living as they wish. Little Edie Beale is larger than life.

By pjoankeith on Sun Apr 19, 11:17:00 PM

I LOVED the HBO movie. A breakthrough performance for Drew Barrymore. She disappeared into the character like Meryl Streep does. There is no higher compliment than that for an actor. How eerie is it that they mentioned Ethel Barrymore playing big Edie in the documentary!? During the VMI Marching dance in the front hallway; isn't little Edie wearing the scarf that Jackie dropped in the garden? Thank you SO much for all the love and effort you put into this wonderful blog. I have enjoyed it immensely. I'm just MAD about it Buster!

By Joseph on Mon Apr 20, 03:24:00 PM

They focused on Jackie dropping her scarf because that's the scarf that Edie later wore for her infamous flag dance. Same scarf...the implification is she picked it up and kept it.

By Jane Rochester on Mon Apr 27, 10:32:00 AM

The focus on Jackie's scarf, and that piece of Edie's wardrobe in particular, was one of my favorite details. I myself had always been curious about that particular scarf because it seemed so clean and new, and I wondered where Little Edie would have gotten it at that point in her life. This only goes to show how serious the Michael Suscy was about this film, and what a true fan he is of the Beales. I'm sure that like me he must have wondered about that scarf as well, and I like his answer to this question. I'm just still very curious to know how accurate a small detail like this is - was there any hint or basis for this in reality? Not that it really matters, because it emphasizes the point of the scene and the relationship between Edie/Jackie perfectly, whether it is based in fact or not.