"Are you absolutely crazy? There isn't anything I can't do." --Edie Beale

About a year ago I caught a snippet of NPR's morning edition and heard about the criterion collection release of Grey Gardens. I'd never heard of the documentary before, so when they played excerpts from it on the program and I heard the voices of Big Edie and Little Edie for the first time, I was intrigued. You can listen to that program here.

The controversial 1975 film, directed by the Maysles brothers, who also did the Rolling Stones documentary Gimme Shelter, peers into the lives of two of Jackie Onassis' cousins: Big Edie, age 78 and Little Edie, 56. Their East Hampton mansion Grey Gardens lends its name to the film. In some ways the house is almost a character in the film... from the fire started by the hot copper pipes to the raccoons that invade the attic. This film is incredible. At first I was amused. Entertained by this wildly eccentric mother-daughter duo. Then I was impressed by Edie's frequent "costume changes." Next I was struck by her beauty as a young woman and wondered what she was really like at that age, as the Beales displayed photos from the past for the camera telling stories and memories.

A couple years before the documentary was filmed, the Beales received a great deal of unwelcome publicity when they were "raided" by the Suffolk County Health Department who discovered that it violated every known building regulation. This event had a traumatizing effect on Big Edie and was frequently referred to by Little Edie in the documentary. Interestingly nothing much happens in the documentary and yet I couldn't pull my eyes away from the screen. I found the subtitles immensely helpful in understanding the overlapping dialogue often being shouted from room to room by mother and daughter. Day in and day out, the Maysles captured the women sunbathing, eating ice cream, playing records and dancing, singing acapella, spouting off views on everything from horoscopes to politics, hanging out with Jerry, reminiscing about the old days, feeding the cats and sometimes the raccoons, and on the Beales of Grey Gardens DVD, one can hear more of the interactions with the Maysles.

There were moments where I believed both of the women to be totally unbalanced and crazier than a coot. Moments where I wanted to laugh out loud at the ridiculous comments or outfits or behaviors of Little Edie, for example. But then there were moments when I believed Edie was more "with it" and truly as "progressive" as she believed she was. Ultimately, the Maysles succeeded in making me fall in love with these unusual, beautiful women--these rare and special creatures unashamed and unafraid of just living life on their own terms.

I loved this film and was thrilled to have another 90 minutes of footage to watch after my first serving. When I mailed this back to Netflix I immediately had to order the DVDs from Amazon for my collection. I understand there is an HBO movie in the works with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange attached to it. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I sense that it could be a big fat failure. I'm rather curious how the musical is working out. Maybe one day I'll get to see it. I would recommend the Grey Gardens documentary without hesitation. Of course, it may not be for everyone and truly it's hard for me to even capture the magic of the film in words.

You can read an essay on their official fan site here.

This fan site has a lot of images.