posted by Alicesaga2








Jessica Lange takes on the larger-than-life “Big” Edie Bouvier Beale, opposite Drew Barrymore as “Little” Edie. In accepting this unimaginable challenge of re-creating specific scenes from the beloved documentary ( Maysles' brothers 1975 docu.),and also filling in the blanks with the woman’s past, Lange is rewarded with her most substantial role in ten years.

Codependent, American pseudo-aristocracy, this mother-daughter team gained notoriety for being distant, black sheep relatives of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but also for living in squalor in a run-down, condemned mansion in East Hampton, New York.

The new film is part biography, part poignant reenactment of the Maysles’ seminal verite documentary, which may have been the flashpoint for what we now know as reality television, before it became the wild animal it is today. The directors treated their subjects with reverence despite their oddball eccentricity and what resulted was a cultural phenomenon.

The Beales, having grown up in the public eye, were all about the formality of society, manors and prizing artistry above all else. “Big” Edie was known for her cocktail parties in which she and “Little” Edie were prone to sweet little songs and soft-shoe acts. The senior Edie seemed to almost be afraid of letting the younger Edie outshine her; she wanted to keep her on a short leash, partly to protect her, partly to control her.

“Big” Edie was living in an era where women didn’t have a lot of power, and young women in society were expected to marry to advance their lives, the deed to Grey Gardens was in her name. Later in the film, she says she will only leave the house “feet first” and that her best memories in life are of singing and dancing in the mansion.

Everything is great for the women, until their lifestyle catches up to them, and the financial rug is pulled from underneath their feet. When Big Edie’s straitlaced husband leaves her for another woman, he takes his money with him, leaving Big and Little Edie for themselves.

So when the smell from the excrement-strewn house became an issue for East Hampton residents, the authorities were called in to condemn the property and evict the women. Can a home still be a home when it is falling to pieces and overrun by raccoons? The media coverage they incurred brought them to the attention of Cousin Jackie Kennedy, who briefly came back into their lives to help the ladies she once admired as a child.

-When you know that you are going down, doing it your way, despite everyone’s warnings and assistance, can be the best therapy.

I can't wait to see this TV Movie. Love to HBO for once again giving us amazing projects.

x

alice

(Sources: Imdb,Variety, Newsweek)