Friday, October 2, 2009

Grey Gardens (1975)



I probably would never have sat down to watch this if my wife hadn't wanted to see it again after being reminded of it at a Rufus Wainwright concert. He sang his song of the same name and made a comment about how Santa Barbara (where we were living at the time) was, like Grey Gardens, also inhabited by crazy rich people. The documentary is loved by many because Little Edie and her mother say a lot of strange and amusing things in front of the camera. Complaints have arisen over the years about how the Beales' lives may have been exploited for the film but the two seem to have been quite proud of the whole project regardless. My overall feeling is that there are probably thousands of eccentric recluses who are, at this very moment, wasting away in old, decaying homes all over the world and muttering funny things. These two just happen to have been related to Jackie O.
IMDB

1 comment:

Owlfarmer said...

I appreciate the reminder about this film; I keep meaning to see it, being something of an old cat lady myself (with not so many cats, and not quite such a ramshackle place). I once went past Grey Gardens when I was living out among a faded resort-like collection of lake houses on Lake Panamoka and needed to take the baby out for a drive to get him to sleep. As I drover rather aimlessly through East Hampton, I saw the house and wanted to live there. Ah, memory--he's 33 now. Anyway, thanks again.