lasttimeisaw The illustrious apotheosis of "direct cinema" in the documentary trend, Maysles Brothers' GREY GARDEN (Hovde and Meyer received co-directing credit for their brilliant editing work), thrusts squarely into Big Edie and Little Edie's life in the titular, dilapidated residence in East Hampton. The relatively schematic newspaper articles give viewers bare-bones information of these two women, relatives of Jackie O, symbol of the detritus of old money, choose an eccentrically reclusive life behind the overlaying verdancy.Their quotidian activities encompass bickering, prating, sun-bathing on the terrace, eating can food (feeding cats and other feral inhabitants), dancing and singing to the old tunes, lamenting over their halcyon days, of which we can step by step get an overall picture by garnering from their sporadic conversations and soliloquies whereas their scuzzy living conditions continue to appall us as a side-note. Singing is Big Edie's passion, edging 80, she still can belt out enchanting oldies albeit her bedridden inconvenience. Little Edie, at the age of 57, conversely is much more agile, who seemly conjures up an effervescent persona on camera (that's cinema, whenever you are camera-ready, it defects from reality), dazzles us with her parade of head-scarfs and other get-ups, emits a convivial energy field around her notwithstanding the pestering grouse about a marriage she could never have, which adds up sympathy to the fact that she has never managed to live a life she pines for, a spinster who ostensibly sacrifices her personal life to be the caretaker of her aging mother, although the film never plies us with more data of their past apart from what they babble away incessantly on a daily base. This creates a tinge gnawing feel, there must be grounds behind the duo's decision to carry on their decaying pattern of living, but why? Financial hurdles, mental nonchalance or it is just an inexorable process of accepting the status quo and laissez-faire (they are blessed to have fortune which is able to provide for a care-free living inside a mansion)? And what is so formidably threatening outside Grey Gardens that obstructs them from going out and severs almost all the contact from the rest of the world? That is the core question, alas, we never find a satisfactory answer from this intimate portraiture. Big Edie is obviously hobbled by her physical state, but what about Little Edie? She would sell the property after her mother's demise (in 1977) and embark on a new life (she died in 2002 at the age of 84), so what is her excuse of this self-imposed shut-in with her mother? Is their secluded status is mythified by design to gain a news-worthy appeal? One cannot help but speculate in the absence of further material of their story. Of course, the film is a hallmark of documentary filmmaking which is meritoriously devoid of any suspicion of editorializing or exterior POVS, no spoon-feeding or emotion-manipulation, viewers can completely construct their own perspectives through those fragments of real life presented and conflated by the filmmakers, it is the closest "unadulterated truth" we can obtain from the medium of cinema. More heartwarming is that while sustain a dispassionate viewpoint, Maysles brothers show judicious protection over their subjects, however kooky they are, and unhealthy their relationship is, the daughter-and-mother pair deserve our respect, because they are courageous enough to open up, and reveal to us what humans are made up.

irishm This is one heck of a disturbing movie. I'm aware that Little Edie is quite a cult figure with a loyal following even years after her death, but I'm not sure how someone like her would generate "fans" per se. If she wasn't mentally ill when she moved back in with her mother, she certainly was by the time the Maylses showed up, and her narcissistic mother is surely the one who punched her ticket to the funny farm.I understand the Beales were delighted with the film when it was screened for them. Anyone who's okay with being portrayed the way those two women are in this movie is not playing with a full deck, period. One half-naked and screeching "Tea For Two"; the other with her skirt on upside down and an unidentifiable piece of clothing pinned to her head marching to a rah-rah fight song… nope, no adult women I know would be happy about ending up on film looking like that. I'm acquainted with some poor housekeepers who don't feel comfortable letting repairmen in the house… but they don't have huge holes in their walls that raccoons are coming and going through, and they don't have rooms piled waist-high with empty tin cans. This is a problem, and hardly anything to admire.Personally, I was torn between a certain degree of pity and outright revulsion, and I found it very hard to finish the film (took me 2 nights; I needed a break). It's sad that the husband/father and sons/brothers retreated, but who could entirely blame them? In those days I doubt there were the safety-nets in place that are available now; maybe the only thing the men of the family could think of to do was step away and go on with their own lives.To the reviewer who mentioned Miss Havisham: spot on! In living color and stereo!I'm glad for the sake of the once-beautiful home that someone bought it and restored it.

Michael_Elliott Grey Gardens (1975) *** (out of 4) Bizarre "documentary" about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie - cousin and niece of Jacqueline Onassis - living in a dump of a mansion where we get to see their day-to-day lives. I'm really not sure if bizarre really covers everything in this film and I'm really not sure that this should or could be called a documentary. The content has come under attack by many critics. I think most agree that it's a very entertaining movie but at the same time it makes you feel more like a voyeur looking in on a couple obviously sick people. I understand the directors getting attacked for filming these two as it seems clear that there's really no point to it other than to show what wacky behaviors they have and to see how someone with so much money and connections to greatness can be living like bums off the street. The film opens up with newspaper clips of the two about to be kicked out of their mansion because of how dirty it is and then we see that Onassis had to place cleaned so that the could stay. From here we see the mother and daughter talk about their lives, scream and shout and do other things including feed the raccoons that are living in their attack. We also see their countless cats that are constantly running around. It's rather funny watching this film today because of all the connections it has to reality TV and shows like Springer where people just show all their troubles, bad behaviors and other issues that really should be kept private. We see the two women go off on wild subjects ranging from who they should have married to whether or not they've made mistakes in their lives and a strange bit where the daughter talks about a local repairman wanting her sexually. There's really no "direction" to the film or story trying to be told. It really doesn't seem as if the directors are wanting us to get to know these people or understand them. It seems like the main goal is just to show these two rather eccentric people go off on rants, wild off-topic discussions and other bits of weirdness. It's not a masterpiece and one could question showing these two but there's no doubt that it's impossible to turn away.

wes-connors Living in the neighborhood, one did hear about these two old birds, the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. You hardly ever saw them, but heard they resided amongst trash and cat feces. The house looked old and neglected. Nobody mowed the lawn. It would never win first prize in the annual L.V.I.S. (Ladies Village Improvement Society) competition. The place looked deserted whenever you walked by, and the Beales were not spotted around town.In this film, "Little Edie" and mother "Big Edie" are seen sunning on the grounds. Inside, they are quite lively, singing and dancing for the exploitive cameras. Obviously, the Beales are animated for the Maysles brothers. Viewing the inside of the house reveals it wasn't as dirty as legend claimed. There were not dozens of cats in evidence, only a manageable few. They "adopted" our family cat once. Thankfully, he wore a collar listing the name "Scribble" and our telephone number...Mrs. Onassis called, and my mother handed me the phone. Probably, she knew I would get a kick out of talking to Jackie Kennedy. In her distinctive voice Jackie said, "We have your cat, Scribble." Edie Beale has a similar voice. We went over to get the cat. Jackie was not staying at "Grey Gardens", she was in a nicer place on Lily Pond Lane. Periodically, she and sister Lee Radziwill would try to help their eccentric relatives clean up, and return the "adopted" cats to their homes.****** Grey Gardens (9/27/75) David Maysles, Albert Maysles ~ "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale