The Hours

Faithful adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s acclaimed novel “The Hours”, garnered numerous Academy Award nominations including Best Actress prize for Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf. Using a three-episode structure the narrative shifts between the 1930s, 1950s and early 2000 with three women linked by the Woolf novel “Mrs Dalloway”. In the first part Woolf is depicted struggling with her novel and her waning mental health; next a suburban housewife and mother Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is reading “Mrs Dalloway”, questioning her happiness and desire to live; lastly Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is preparing a lavish dinner party for a dying friend who has won a celebrated literary prize. On this one day each woman experiences an array of emotions, including desire, despair and a yearning for something more; all are linked by motifs such as a kiss, interweaving their individual plights. As well the superb key performances, “The Hours” is bolstered by a strong supporting cast (Claire Danes, Ed Harris, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney and Toni Collette), a lyrical Michael Nyman score and a pervasive air of melancholy and longing.