grey gardens 30 years on
ACMI is proud to be presenting the Australian premiere of The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006), a compelling companion piece to the Albert and David Maysles' classic documentary Grey Gardens (1975).
Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Grey Gardens, and news of a new feature film version of Grey Gardens in development (starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange), Albert Maysles returned to his film archives and created The Beales of Grey Gardens, a feature-length follow-up made from the many hours of previously unseen footage from the original film.
Grey Gardens has remained pop culture talking point for over 30 years, and one of the most beloved, most talked about documentaries ever made.
A remarkable piece of fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, Grey Gardens (1975) captured the squalid and isolated lives of elderly Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter - the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Two eccentric shutaways who lived in a decaying East Hampton mansion in filthy conditions, the Beale ladies lived out a strange co-dependent existence with enough faded memories, unfulfilled potential and petty bickering to be worthy of a Tennessee Williams play.
Mrs. Beale, a.k.a. "Big Edie," was a born aristocrat, sister of "Black Jack" Bouvier - Jackie O's father. "Little Edie" was an aspiring actress of striking beauty who put her New York life on hold to care for her mother - and never left her side again.
When the film was released it attracted worldwide attention - who would have thought two members so closely linked to the America's first family would live in such conditions?
But what gave the film its enduring appeal was the women themselves - two characters whose real-life story and daily antics were made for celluloid - and were more compelling than any fictional film can ever hope to be.
At the time of filming, Little Edie was a still-attractive woman of 56. Known for her trademark improvised turbans, she captivated the film with her reminisces about her brilliant past, and her continual hope that her Big Chance and Big Romance are just around the corner. Big Edie, a trained soprano in her bohemian days, became known for her renditions of romantic songs of yesteryear, sung out in a slightly wobbly, but nonetheless rich voice.
"Proof positive that when an aristocratic American family gets big enough, some relatives will wind up shut-ins at an overgrown, feline-infested East Hampton mansion belting out shrill show tunes and feeding wild raccoons whole bags of Wonder bread in the attic. This bizarre, sad and touching portrait of elderly Edith Bouvier Beale (Jackie Kennedy's aunt) and her middle-aged ex-model daughter "Little" Edie, instantly became one of the most talked-about documentaries of all time." (www.greygardens.com)
The Australian Premiere season of The Beales of Grey Gardens will screen at ACMI Cinemas from November 9-12. The season will include one encore screening of the original Grey Gardens.
The Beales of Grey Gardens
Australian Premiere Season, Nov 9-12, 2006
ACMI's First Look Program
http://www.acmi.net.au/first_look.jsp
Published Thursday, 26 October 2006
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