SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Rijndri Load of rubbish!!

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

calvinnme ... such as what happened to the Bouvier/Beale money that bought the 28 room mansion that mother and daughter live in and is in disrepair? I know that Big Edie was divorced in 1931, and it sounded like "little Edie" had the advantages of an expensive education through college, which would have been right before WWII. What changed? There is no narration here, nor do the documentary makers ask questions. They just let the cameras roll and record whatever happens. Big Edie is in her late 70s yet retains a kind of beauty. However, she talks over little Edie whenever they are in the same room, making it difficult to understand either woman.What is clear visually is that they are both living in squalor. A cat defecates behind a very old portrait of Big Edie and both Edies laugh about being glad somebody gets to do what they want? Nobody tries to clean it up. Big Edie spends her time on a filthy mattress with stuff she might need stacked on top, yet seems to have no trouble with mobility. They make food for the cameramen including pate on crackers that looks like cat food on crackers. I would want a tetanus shot first.Little Edie has a mountain of regret. She talks about how she wanted to be a dancer, how somebody wanted to marry her but her mother drove him away, and how she has been taking care of her mother due to her health on and off since the second world war. She mentions how much she hates the country and misses the noise of the city. Little Edie is remarkably well preserved. When this film was made she was 56 but she could pass for forty. She color coordinates all of her wardrobes including her scarves and headdresses that hide her alopecia, yet she won't mop the floor. Shades of faded feelings of being aristocracy perhaps? Another question I had that went unanswered was where were big Edie's sons? Both lived into the 1990's, yet they are nowhere to be found. Maybe they had the sense to get out of Dodge.Why are these recluses the subject of a documentary in the first place? Because big and little Edie are Jackie Kennedy Onnasis' aunt and cousin, respectively, and because Suffolk County was trying to evict them based on the condition of the house and grounds - there was no running water at one point - until Jackie supplied the funds to get the estate up to snuff.Don't look for lots of answers here, because there are really none. It is just a fascinating portrait of two recluses who have slipped into their own form of normality although it looks horrifying to outsiders.

atlasmb "Grey Gardens" is a riveting documentary about a mother and daughter who live in their deteriorating home, having little contact with others.This is a documentary in the true sense of the word, where the filmmaker does little more than document, without intent to impose a point of view. The camera merely follows the pair of women through their daily routines. On the other hand, it is impossible for the filming to not influence the behavior of the subjects, especially with Edith and Edie, who seemingly love to perform for the camera, and who enjoy having the crew around--probably because they offer a welcome interruption to their relative loneliness.The women live with a multitude of cats. They even feed the raccoons that have breached the interior walls of the rotting mansion. Mother and daughter interact with each other as if the daughter, Edie, was a young girl. They might bicker sometimes, but each is the other's link to the past, a shared history, memories of better days.The result is reminiscent of Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations", living as much in the past as the present.

kelly-schultz001 My film review is on the documentary Grey Gardens. It is set in East Hampton, New York, in a once beautiful mansion with spectacular ocean views. This is the true story of Mrs. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie. Our film makers Albert and David Maysles shot the film in 1975, but time seems to stand still for the Beale women who are living in the days of yester year. They film the mother/daughter duo who are wary of their intentions at first, but relent upon learning that they will be in the movies! The once beautiful mansion is falling down around them, but they don't seem to notice that they are living amid squalor. The surroundings are overgrown and choked by vegetation that seems to have swallowed the property and the contents and life within. They spend their time arguing and entertaining each other and our film makers with singing and dancing and stories of days gone by.They share their home with their beloved cats which number in the hundreds and raccoons who make their home inside the walls and come out at night to scavenger on the cat food and bread that Little Edie leaves out for them. Both women share a room and everything together almost as if the umbilical cord was never severed, although Little Edie goes back and forth between a feeling of contentment and bitterness for a life she was denied.The film maker's narrative was very informative and concise and their gentle coaxing and prompting of the two women provided many entertaining stories during the filming. The film makers were subjected to the stench and filth every day during filming as they followed the women around as they gave tours of the home. The women were constantly changing their "costumes" for the men, especially Little Edie who took great care to explain why a "costume" was appropriate for the day.The documentary is both unique and intriguing and the women will keep us entertained with their outlandish ways and views of the world and their scenario. It will leave you in astonishment how with dogged determination the women survived and flourished when all they had was each other. You will walk away with an appreciation of life and family and the special relationships that develop within.

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