In January, I re-subscribed to Netflix to give my housemate new films to watch while I work in the afternoons. I go to the site from time to time to update the queue and earlier in the week saw the HBO movie "Grey Gardens" listed as a new release. I immediately put it at the top of my list.
I first saw the 1975 documentary of the same name in 2003, shortly after I moved in to take care of R. The film presents a painfully searing portrait of eccentricity sunk to its lowest levels in the lives of Jacqueline Kennedy’s aunt and cousin, both named Edith or "Edie" Beale.
Fallen from the ranks of the wealthy in the 1930s and 1940s to a hand-to-mouth existence in their decrepit East Hampton estate, Grey Gardens, the woman lived amidst a herd of cats and raccoons in what can only be described as filthy squalor.
When I heard their story had been turned into a Broadway musical, I thought how "Little" Edie, with her dreams of going into show business, would have liked that. Although I watched a couple of numbers performed from the production on talk shows, there was no opportunity to see the play itself, and once again the Beales receded into some back corner of my brain.
Then Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore appeared on "The View" to promote the HBO film adaptation of "Grey Gardens" in which they starred. We don’t take the premium channels, so I had to wait for the DVD release. It was a well worth it.
This is one of those films that leaves you with a stunned, if unspoken "wow" in the forefront of your thoughts. When I saw the documentary all my horrified mind could register was, "Please don’t let us wind up being that bad."
Now, several years into my own caregiving odyssey and revisiting the characters in a more contextualized setting, in a way I hope we wind up that well. I don’t know if the film’s ending is accurate to the Beale’s themselves, but at least there is an ending, and a satisfying if bittersweet one.
This character study is, by turns, painful and inspiring, but it is also highly recommended. Superb work on the part of both actresses and a sensitive and honest portrayal of two deeply flawed, but terribly real human beings.