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The Hours [2003]
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RRP: £17.99
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Depressing, dull and questionable.
Review date: 2008-08-31 Rating: 2 out of 10
The attempt at justifying the dumping of a child at a hotel is a particular low point in this film, which -for me- drags dreadfully. My only sympathy lay with the chap who (forced by circumstances, it appears) jumps out of a window - seemingly a victim of fortune, the other actors/actresses and the author.
I noticed that one 5-star review referred to the emphasis on every action - including the quality of the acting in even basic activities like turning off a light. Maybe it's a sad reflection on myself that I'm not impressed by such details, nor by the time-shifting and mingling of a range of character traits. The attempt is to make links between a range of women, but they are all negative, depressing links - offering no glimmer of hope. Why is the viewer supposed to feel empathy for these characters?
From the range of positive reviews this film receives, I can only assume that my opinions are not held by most of the other reviewers. That's fair enough, but there is a rather unpleasant undercurrent with many of those reviews - whereby, if you don't agree with them, you're considered unworthy to make comments of your own. My first review was removed by Amazon following abusive personal comments made by people who had clearly enjoyed the film and yet were unable to defend its credibility. How many other one star reviews been removed to improve the star rating for this film?
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Reviews
"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
Review date: 2008-03-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself". From this opening line of Virginia Woolf's novel of the same name, this marvellous movie blossoms. It is the story of three women whose lives are affected in some way by this line: Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) writes the line at her Richmond home in 1926; Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) reads the line in 1951 suburban Los Angeles; and Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) acts out the line in 2001 Manhattan. These are all highly-nuanced performances, betraying the fleetest of thoughts and emotions in silent actions. Stephen Dillane is a totally believable hard-pressed Leonard Woolf, whilst Miranda Richardson is Virginia's sympathetic but ultimately distant sister. Even Eileen Atkins plays a cameo as a Manhattan florist.
The film is full of the everyday, and that is both its charm and its story, as similar actions - combing hair, turning off lights - are undertaken by these three women across space and time. But there is also a persistent presence of underlying tragedy. The links between the three women are deep and wide-ranging: food and eating, mental health, women kissing women, reading/writing/being Mrs Dalloway, attempted suicides, guests arriving early. The parallels and interweaving between the three lives are innumerable. All three are repressing major aspects of their inner selves - passions denied, or loves lost - that result in stifling atmospheres and imprisoned souls.
If I had to choose a favourite scene, it is of Meryl Streep, preparing food in her kitchen, trying to cope with the pressures of her life whilst also trying to make pleasant smalltalk with her ex-boyfriend's ex-boyfriend, Jeff Daniels playing the self-infatuated gay man to a tee.
No, instead I choose Julianne Moore waving goodbye to her young son, who intuitively knows that something is wrong and screams tears at the thought that his mother might reject him. The shock of the grown-up Richard leaving through the high-rise window is long-prepared but is a sharp jolt all the same. The subsequent cut to Richard again as a child only heightens the sense of tragedy.
No, no, instead I choose the final scene of Nicole Kidman, slowly but determinedly giving her life to the river's waves, whilst reciting the message she has left for her husband: "To look life in the face, and to know it for what it is, to love it for what it is and then to put it away. Always the years, always the love, always the hours."
You see how this film is an embarrassment of riches, so full of marvellous acting, brilliant directing and editing, and superb writing? There is only one false moment, and that is the station scene between Virginia and Leonard Woolf. It appeared out of character for Leonard to shout out in public the problem of his wife's mental health, but the subsequent rapprochement between them is very moving: "You cannot find peace by avoiding life, Leonard."
The film's ending is a tour-de-force. As she writes her novel "Mrs Dalloway", Virginia provides the key to the film's message: "Someone has to die so that the rest of us value life more ... the poet will die, the visionary." This is mirrored by Julianne Moore's character who, having abandoned her family, reflects that her former life "was death. I chose life." This sounds all so depressing, but it is Meryl Streep's character who betrays this lie, for in the face of her tragedy - the party for which she has laboured so much, has had to be cancelled - what happens, but that she is silently comforted by the people who love her and live for her. Virginia Woolf is right: someone does have to die for the rest of us to value life all the more. Some call it maudlin, but I found this a moving and passionately positive ending.
Some critics have derided Philip Glass's score as too sentimental. For me, its perpetual and insistent pulses and rhythms, broken by spasms of pianistic lyricism, is one reason for the success of the film. The music's texture speaks volumes about the everyday nature of these three women's reality, whilst giving intimations of the tragedies to come. In the accompanying DVD commentary, Meryl Streep says that, "the music starts you on a journey and carries you through fluently to the end." It is great to see that the importance of the soundtrack is celebrated by there being a seven-minute feature on the music of the film as one of the extras.
A few words about the other extras on my DVD. There are two commentaries. That by the three leading ladies shows their intelligence and insight, as they each relate how they approached their roles, interpreted them and played them; how they became involved in the project; and how they interacted with its production. For example, Nicole Kidman had to learn how to write with the right hand; Julianne Moore explains how her character is more into her book ("Mrs Dalloway") than into her life, and this is how she wants to be; whilst Meryl Streep observes how "so many sections of the film are like one-act plays."
The other commentary is learned and literary and is by the director Stephen Daldry and by the author of the book Michael Cunningham (and NOT as advertised by David Hare, who wrote the screenplay). There are some interesting comments. Stephen Daldry comments on how "the experience of life is an experience of loss." Michael Cunningham observes how through film (as opposed to the novel) you lose the benefit of seeing into people's minds, but that what you gain is suggested by, for example, watching Meryl Streep's character separating eggs. From the way that this task is performed, you know exactly what kind of a person she is. Cunningham is an engaging character, playfully commenting that the film "is a hugely successful movie about people [just] reading a book", and that he must be the only living novelist who is happy with the film adaptation of his own book.
Other extras consist of a ten-minute feature on how the novel was conceived, written and transformed for the screen; a sixteen-minute piece on the casting of the three women; and a 25-minute documentary called The Mind and Times of Virginia Woolf, narrated by Eileen Atkins.
so - so
Review date: 2008-01-11 Rating: 6 out of 10
When you first see this film, it blitzes you. There's so much talent on the screen, and they're all at the top of their game, so it's easy to get confuse into thinking this is a great film. It's not. It creaks all over the place and there are too many archetype wandering around this film rather than real character. It betrays its roots as a book in that regard.
Worth 3 stars to see Julianne Moore, an actress who i think future eras will see as one of our very best. Far from Heaven and Safe are her best, I think, but this is still top top stuff...
Unfortunate title....
Review date: 2007-06-03 Rating: 4 out of 10
Pretentious, over-wrought twaddle. A middling sixth-form english student could probably script something similarly profound and tragic in tone, but of course no one would actually be foolish enough to waste money filming their efforts. The backers of this movie should have been similarly frugal.
I hate to be so negative...it's true that the movie does have some redeeming features, not least in a few of the performances, but the dialogue is so tortured. Whatever happened to black humour?? All of the central characters are clearly mature and intelligent individuals, but sadly this does not prevent them from communicating like a bunch of angst-ridden teenagers trying to sound sophisticated in their suffering.
Virginia Woolfe isn't my favourite writer by any means, but her sharp intelligence, wit and fascination for narrative innovation would surely have led her to depise anything as desultory and uninspired as this. The triple story-line is not original or clever - it's just a gimmick, and it adds nothing worthwhile to our understanding of any of the characters. What's more, I think the whole thing trivialises both the suicidal mindset (by not making any genuine attempt to understand it) and terminal illness (i.e. in the Ed Harris character, none of whose scenes I found convincing). This was AIDS and suicide, hollywood style...
As for the title, it IS unfortunate. Sardonic comments are hard to avoid, particularly as the film is only 1 hour 55 minutes long. To me, sitting through this trash in the cinema definitely felt like "hours" in the plural...
My favourite film of all time
Review date: 2007-05-28 Rating: 10 out of 10
The reason why: It is thought-provoking, its story structure--amazingly original----its greatest credit for me was that it drastically altered my outlook on life and death, essentially it provoked me to think about the meaning of life. A spectacular film at its most profound levels respecting and celebrating life---illustrating the parallels between human life and great art, and how the two reflect each other.
It made a philosopher out of me, I hope it will change the way you see life too.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Julianne Moore
Nicole Kidman
Stephen Dillane
Meryl Streep
Miranda Richardson
Creators:
Meryl Streep (Primary Contributor)
Nicole Kidman (Primary Contributor)
Ian MacNeil (Producer)
Marieke Spencer (Producer)
Mark Huffam (Producer)
Michael Alden (Producer)
Robert Fox (Producer)
David Hare (Writer)
Michael Cunningham (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 5017188888448
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-11-17
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 114 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2003-01-24
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)