Directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffy Myer
1975/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale: But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn’t know that they were dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there’s anything worse than dealing with a staunch woman… S-T-A-U-N-C-H. There’s nothing worse, I’m telling you. They don’t weaken, no matter what.
This quirky documentary only seems to get better with time.
Edith “Big Edie” Bouvier Beale (age 78) is the aunt of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale (age 52) is “Big Edie’s” daughter and Jackie O’s cousin. They both look to have lived like American aristocracy in their youth, then … something … (we are not told what) happened. Things seemed to go way downhill when Little Edie’s father left the scene.
For the past 25 years, the two have been reduced to living in their decaying mansion “Grey Gardens” in the Hamptons. The place is full of trash, feral cats, and a major raccoon infestation. Neither of the occupants seems to mind. The authorities have tried to condemn the place once already but the Beales were bailed out by relatives.
Neither appears to be living in the real world though Big Edie is more grounded than her daughter. Little Edie blames her mother for every setback in her life, mom loves to needle her daughter, and the two squabble constantly but always make up. Little Edie believes that if she could only move to New York City she could make her dreams come true.
Little Edie has a … unique … flair for fashion and changes costumes several times a day. She also fancies herself a dancer and we are treated to a couple of her performances.
This makes at least the third time I have seen this and it always delights me. But it also leaves me with so many unanswered questions! What was wrong with Little Edie’s hair? Is she on any kind of meds? And how did the mighty fall so far? The subjects of this documentary have no inhibitions in front of the camera and they say the most amazing things. At the same time, we leave not only having laughed a little but maybe with a tear in the eye. Warmly recommended,
I watched this documentary after hearing the hype about for years, and found it was well-done. But I feel like I found it more exploitative of the Beales than most other people. A lot of the movie’s popularity seems to be built on laughing at them as eccentrics while ignoring their underlying trauma. I could be wrong in my interpretation of how other receive this film, but I found it more unsettling than delightful.
I’ve been thinking about your point. The ladies seem to have been very willing participants and I think their antics were portrayed in a more or less respectful way. At the same time the movie makes you think about their plight, the burden of the expectations of others, and speculate about how things might have been different. The question is whether they were competent to make the decisions they did about appearing in the film.
I don’t know that my brother is technically a film buff. He doesn’t watch three or four movies a week and he doesn’t obsess over them. He likes super-hero blockbusters and comedies and James Bond.
But every once in a while he’ll watch a foreign or some highly regarded art film. He loves Juliet of the Spirits but I don’t think he could name another Fellini film. He watches The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie every so often and he’s seen The Golden Age, but I doubt he knows they’re from the same director. He loves The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and he says he’ll watch The Seven Samurai eventually.
Another one he loves is Grey Gardens. It’s a great movie! You could do worse if you decided you were only going to watch one classic documentary in your lifetime.
The other Maysles brothers documentaries are very good too. I especially love Salesman about traveling Bible salesmen in the South.
That sounds really good! I’ll watch it and then I’ll try to get my brother to watch it!
“Grey Gardens” remains a fascinating documentary. I believe Little Edie’s hair loss was from an auto-immune disorder. Did you see the 2009 drama “Grey Garden,” with Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore? They were amazing!
I need to see the 2009 film. I’ve seen some of the stills and it does look amazing!