Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Essential Viewing
Review: A movie to go ga-ga for. A hilarious and heartwrenching film that tries to be about family, fame, duty, loyalty, destiny, disappointment, insanity, genius, fashion, America, bravery, and filth, and succeeds completely on every level. The DVD extras shed even more light. Great audio interview. Great director commentaries. Great photo galleries. Top 10 of alltime for this reviewer.

Rating:
Summary: The line between fantasy and reality is very fine indeed
Review: A remarkable film by the Maylese brothers. Capturing an immense range of character while provoking in the viewer a stunning emotional response - from the deep sadness and loss of a life unlived, of thwarted dreams to the delight of wit and intelligence surviving, thriving in hardships. Edie Beale (jr) is an extraordinary beauty, trapped in a prison of her own choosing. The moments of humor and poignancy are too many to mention. Buy this movie and live with it. Edie is the star she dreamed of becoming.

Rating:
Summary: "Speechless"
Review: A riveting insight to blue blood gone bad. A haunting experience you'll never forget, and a great addition to anyone's video library.

Rating:
Summary: Ms. Havisham move over Edie has arrived!
Review: Anyone interested in the Kennedy's, Jackie, New York society or the Hamptons will find this film haunting and disturbing yet enjoyable. The film leaves the viewer wanting to know more about both Big and Little Edie's past and future. A certain sense of exploitative voyuerism surrounds all aspects of this film so don't expect airbrushed reality - Grey Garden's covers the social history of a family to the cats that have infested their run down home in the posh seaside town of Easthapton. If nothing else it's a wonderful topic of discussion at cocktail parties. The commentary and extra audio interview are especially good.

Rating:
Summary: Martha Stewart's Worst Nightmare
Review: At first, "Grey Gardens" appears to be a straight-forward documentary about the tarnished side of Camelot: Jackie O's relatives gone to seed. We see Big Edie and Little Edie living in squalor feasting on liver pate and butter pecan ice cream. Dig a little deeper and you'll find a riveting look at a strong mother-daughter bond. I watched it twice in a row and found myself totally feeling for these two women. It is an extremely intimate portrait. The DVD is wonderful. Criterion's transfer is crisp for a print from 1976. The sound does tend to get shrill especially when Little Edie goes on one of her rants. The director commentary goes way beyond the initial narrative giving numerous aspects of both the filmmakers' views and their genuine affection for the Beales. A big plus is an interview with Little Edie from 1976. PLUS there's a "hidden" extra: after the final credits roll and a screen shot of color bars appear, there's a recent telephone interview with Little Edie from Florida. Overall, Criterion has put together another great package. It is the "best costume for today."

Rating:
Summary: Martha Stewart's Worst Nightmare
Review: At first, "Grey Gardens" appears to be a straight-forward documentary about the tarnished side of Camelot: Jackie O's relatives gone to seed. We see Big Edie and Little Edie living in squalor feasting on liver pate and butter pecan ice cream. Dig a little deeper and you'll find a riveting look at a strong mother-daughter bond. I watched it twice in a row and found myself totally feeling for these two women. It is an extremely intimate portrait. The DVD is wonderful. Criterion's transfer is crisp for a print from 1976. The sound does tend to get shrill especially when Little Edie goes on one of her rants. The director commentary goes way beyond the initial narrative giving numerous aspects of both the filmmakers' views and their genuine affection for the Beales. A big plus is an interview with Little Edie from 1976. PLUS there's a "hidden" extra: after the final credits roll and a screen shot of color bars appear, there's a recent telephone interview with Little Edie from Florida. Overall, Criterion has put together another great package. It is the "best costume for today."

Rating:
Summary: FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE "EDIES"
Review: Being a biography buff, I was familiar with Kennedy-Bouvier lore but somehow had skipped right over any reference to Big and Little Edie. When I saw the documentary on Sundance Cable and ordered the DVD I instantly became enthralled with these two fascinating characters. I have watched the film many, many times, and feel that I have discovered friends that I want to protect and care for (although reality forces me to accept that they are gone forever, and it is as if family members have left me). After each viewing I don't want to leave their home and presence. The emotion I feel for them is amazing, running amok. That the Maysles have been able to capture real lives and real character this way is phenomenal. You will love the Beales, be entertained by them, then suffer and hurt for them. With all your heart you want them to be okay and you make yourself believe that somewhere Big Edie sings a melody written in adoration of her by Gould while Little Edie dances, with her scarf made of rainbows fluttering about her head of glorious hair.

Rating:
Summary: FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE "EDIES"
Review: Being a biography buff, I was familiar with Kennedy-Bouvier lore but somehow had skipped right over any reference to Big and Little Edie. When I saw the documentary on Sundance Cable and ordered the DVD I instantly became enthralled with these two fascinating characters. I have watched the film many, many times, and feel that I have discovered friends that I want to protect and care for (although reality forces me to accept that they are gone forever, and it is as if family members have left me). After each viewing I don't want to leave their home and presence. The emotion I feel for them is amazing, running amok. That the Maysles have been able to capture real lives and real character this way is phenomenal. You will love the Beales, be entertained by them, then suffer and hurt for them. With all your heart you want them to be okay and you make yourself believe that somewhere Big Edie sings a melody written in adoration of her by Gould while Little Edie dances, with her scarf made of rainbows fluttering about her head of glorious hair.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!
Review: Criterion has done another suberb job with the presentation of this film. The extras are great; commentary from the producers and one of the Maysles, a quite strange trailer and TV spot, fascinating and often beautiful behind-the-scenes photos of the Beales (and even a section of photos on the many cats that live in the house!) and best of all, excerpts from an audio interview with Little Edie for Interview Magazine circa 1976. I was very excited to here more stories from her often slanted perspective and her often wise philosophies on things. There are also two video interviews with two current fashion designers which I didn't find very interesting, but goes to show the continuing influence of this film and it's facinating subjects.
I do wish a companion piece would have been filmed updating Little Edie's life, who unfortently died January of 2002 at her apartment in Florida. I think we would have all been curious to hear what she had to say.
All in all, highly recommended...it will change you, I promise!

Rating:
Summary: Its So Hard To Keep Line Between The Past & The Present!
Review: Grey Gardens is an amazing documentary. I heartily advise anyone with a camp sensibility to purchase it. Even though it documents the sad decline of these two women, at the same time it is full of shocking belly laughs. Several of my family members have now watched it, and now we speak to each other in "Grey Gardens Speak"! If you're a fan of "Mommie Dearest", then you must get this----its the real thing!
This film just pulverizes me!