The Hours

The Hours is a beautifully made film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham. It is one of the first mainstream movies to feature lesbian and gay characters in an honest, sensitive, and truthful way. There are many great performances in this film, including Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan and Ed Harris as Richard Brown, a gay man in the final stages of AIDS. Best of all is Julianne Moore as Laura Brown, a despairing woman trapped in a suburban nightmare. This is not an easy film to watch because there is so much sadness, and the subject of suicide is prevalent. But it very worthwhile and groundbreaking.

This movie is 3 different stories in different time periods but tied together by a book by Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway. It's a rare treat to see the best 3 actress Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep telling a story so well written and marvelously acted & directed. Each actress cast themselves in such a compelling, heart-wrenching and truthful way . . .they each encompass the character they're playing so deeply. They're on top of the list for their acting, always! Nicole won the Oscar for Best Actress DESERVEDLY (WHEW!) but it's shared because of the other two were also great. Also, the rest of the cast is top-notch! This DVD took a little time to get to me but it was in PERFECT shape (new).

"The Hours" more than lives up to its critical praise. If nothing else it is a must see for the originality of the technique. The film (and the book by Michael Cunningham) is structured around the process of linking up three stories set at different points in time. Each story concerns a woman trying to define herself, to identify what she needs, and to find a way to get it.The 1920's story concerns Virginia Woolf's (Kidman) efforts to write her first successful novel, "Mrs. Dallaway"; which is the story of one day in the life of a woman named Clarissa Dallaway. The story set in the early 1950's concerns a Laura Brown (Moore) who is reading "Mrs. Dallaway". Finally the contemporary story concerns Clarissa Vaughn (Streep) who is essentially living Mrs. Dallaway's life in modern NYC. All three performances are extraordinary in their own unique ways and there are wonderful performances from all members of the supporting cast. It is as if each member of the ensemble brought out the best in each other.Some interesting and not always obvious things to look for as you watch "The Hours" are:Each story begins with the husband/lover of each woman leading the camera to the woman. All three women are found in bed and this begins a match cut process that will repeat itself throughout the film as the director and editor work to connect and unify the three separate stories. Woolf writes: "Mrs. Dallaway said she would buy the flowers herself" just as Laura Brown reads that sentence and Clarissa speaks that sentence.Kidman's Woolf is an amazing character. She is a psychological mess, making life difficult for those around her and full of torment and despair. Yet she has a subtle charm that helps you to understand why people found her fascinating.Like "The Big Chill", this is an ambitious character study film with many characters. By necessity, both films rely more on behavioral language than dialogue in revealing the personality of its characters. Note Laura Brown's (Moore) neatness obsession as she readies her house and herself prior to leaving for the hotel.Woolf began the book "Mrs. Dallaway" with the intention of basing it on a society woman she knew who unexpectedly committed suicide. Brown describes the book to her neighbor as: "Oh, it's about this woman who's incredibly - well, she's a hostess and she's incredibly confident and she's going to give a party. And, maybe because she's confident, everyone thinks she's fine... but she isn't".At its core this is a movie about art but it is a broad definition of art, writing a book-baking a cake-giving a party. Each woman/artist is driven and frustrated by a need for unattainable perfection. There is a touch of irony to each situation. For example, Laura Brown is where she is because her husband has pulled her into the great American dream without realizing that it was the worse thing he could do to her. Although all three women love their children/child/niece, those relationships do not give them what they need.There is a visitor and a kiss in each story central to the self-definition process each woman is going through. Virginia kisses her sister Vanessa (brilliantly played by Miranda Richardson who looks amazingly like she could have been Kidman's sister), desperately trying to force a better connection with her. Vanessa understands this, she is not shocked by the kiss but by the implication that her sister needs this so desperately.Sophie Wyburd who plays Virginia's young niece was obviously cast for her haunting voice and her ability to display such a focused intensity. Each woman has a child picking up on their needs, which the adults around them do not seem to be aware of.Watch the scene where Laura's husband is urging her to come to bed. Moore's voice does not betray the revulsion or the internal struggle which only viewers can see on her face. In fact at this point each woman's partner is urging her to go to bed but each must first a make choice. Then watch for the great match cut, Virginia announces that she has decided that the poet will die in her novel and they cut to little Richard lying in his bed. Moore's expression finally tells us that she has decided to leave her family. Streep's kiss signifies her recognition of the preciousness of what she still has in her life and her choice to embrace it and move forward.Ultimately this film is about the increasing difficulty we have as we get older in making choices. This is because as we discover who we are, we also experience loss and accumulate grief over the course of our lives, becoming ever more aware of the cost of our choices. Like the Moonlight Graham character in "Field of Dreams" (who assumed he would have more than one major league at bat), Clarissa looks back on a short moment that she thought was the beginning of happiness and realizes that it was her only moment of actual happiness.There are some criticisms of this film. That it is not political enough but rather is for the elite and about the elite, or conversely that it is condescending to the masses with too obvious a message told in an unnecessarily simplistic way, and finally that it is a success of structure rather than ideas. Whatever the validity of these issues, the very fact that discussions are at this elevated level is the best testimonial the film could have. My only criticism was a production design issue (young Richard gets his Lincoln logs out of a Erector Set box).Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Through out "The Hours" Virginia Woolf(Nicole Kidman) is exasperated by the idea that the main character in her novel should die. "The Hours" is based off the book of the same name written by Michael Cunningham. Virginia Woolf's book is not the primary source for this film. This movie has, from the book, and the screenplay by David Hare, meticulous knowledge about Virginia Woolf and her most famous writings, and all of these things have been incorporated into "The Hours". This story is about women, one could definitely say that there are females who could relate to the lives portrayed, but more specifically, it is about Virginia Woolf. This film has three separate stories that are mildly joined but are related to each other with acute pertinence. Virginia Woolf is played by Nicole Kidman, who, because of prosthetics, looks intimately like Mrs. Woolf herself. Virginia whispers a thought about her novel, and we suspect that when Laura Brown(Julianne Moore), or Richard Brown(Ed Harris) have dark turns of motivations, discreetly implied, that Woolf is actually scripting out the events in "The Hours". The three stories-that of Laura Brown suffering with her own despair, and Clarissa Vaughan(Meryl Streep), who is preparing a dinner party (much like Mrs. Dalloway of the famous novel by Virginia Woolf), and the drama of 1923, in Richmond England, of Virginia Woolf herself, true to life-these are tied together intensely in a 'stream of consciousness'. The theme, being described for the purpose of supplying plot to a novel by Woolf, for her book "Mrs. Dalloway" is fixed within a beam so omni powerful that, these brilliant actresses and actors are giddily binding regular hardships against the ensuing presages of suicide. These lonlinesses are witnessed in some rude slights expressed to Virginia Woolf. When I saw this film years ago, I thought it was taken directly from one of Virginia Woolf's books- it is not. I was rewarded with having watched "The Hours", as Nicole Kidman's portrayal of Virginia Woolf has forever made this great writer highly imaginable to my mind. In an afternoon dress Woolf is elegant but also a drifter, and as a writer, has some liberal ideas about social things, but as an artist, understanding about human nature and this emanates as stalwart virtue and maturity. The story in 2001, involving Clarissa Vaughan and her ex boyfriend, or lover, Richard Brown, who is a poet and novelist, is a stage performance of the most amazing interplay. Clarissa is balancing a nurturing sweetness against a burgeoning despair as Richard(Ed Harris) jests and commiserates in neurotic sympathies. The folk-talish brusqueness of bipolar antics and imminent tragedy are imbibed dexterously by Meryl Streep and Ed Harris. In subtlety emotions roguishly jar in and out between compassion and stunned awareness. It is easy to see this work as a showpiece for women struggling within a day, and who fret, whose dramas are exageratingly heightened by random happenings. As I was being grieved that Virginia Woolf had killed herself, this deep pitch which weighed down in pain so paramount that other sentiments got tossed around in nervous behaviors; this went on in tri-scape tension consummately evoking the themes which obsessed Virginia Woolf. Nicole Kidman won in 2002, the Best Actress Academy Award, for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf. The huge cast includes Alison Janney, John C. Reilly, Miranda Richardson, Toni Colette, and this movie is a reminder of what a craft acting is. "The Hours" was directed by Stephen Daldry who also directed Kate Winslet in 2008's "The Reader".

This is a favorite movie

Great film in form and content. Wonderful performances all around.

Stellar cast, great story about trickle down effect in our lives, leaves you with all the feels.

Le plus beau film qu’il faut absolument regarder

Good product. Good to see this film agai

Ben recitato

Dieser Satz von Virginia Woolf ist eine von mehreren Äußerungen, die ich als Überschrift für diese Rezension in Betracht gezogen und schließlich gewählt habe.Die depressive Schriftsstellerin Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), die 1923 mit ihrem Roman Mrs.Dalloway begann und sich 1941 in der Ouse ertränkte.Die Hausfrau Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) im Jahre 1951, die an den Anforderungen am Geburtstag ihres Mannes zu verzweifeln droht, sich mit dem Roman Mrs.Dalloway und einer großen Zahl an Schlaftabletten in ein Hotel verkriecht, dieeSelbsttötung nicht übers Herz bringt, aber einen Entschluss fasst, der ihr Leben verändern wird, wie wird am Ende des Films aufgelöst bei ........Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) im Jahre 2001, Lektorin in New York, die mit ihrer Freundin Sally (Allison Janney) in einer Beziehung lebt und ihre Jugendliebe, den AIDS-kranken Schriftsteller Richard Brown (Ed Harris) betreut, der einen bedeutenden Literaturpreis verliehen bekommen soll, wofür sie eine große Party geben will. Er nennt sie Mrs.Galloway in Anspielung an die Romanfigur, die sich für andere aufopfert und ihr eigenes Leben vernachläsigt.Es ist nützlich, aber NICHT unabdingbar, Virginia Woolfs Roman, der 1995 von 82 internationalen Literarurkritikern nach Wooffs Roman "Die Fahrt zum Leuchtturm" und George Eliots "Middlemarch"zum bedeutendsten britischen Roman gewählt wurde, gelesen zu haben, oder zumindestens die Inhaltsbeschreibung z.B. bei WIKIPEDIA.Während beim Roman "Mrs.Dalloway" zwei Erzählstränge neben einander verlaufen, sind es in "The Hours" nach dem Werk des Schriftstellers Cunningham, der dafür 1999 den Pulitzer-Preis erhielt, deren drei, die in unterschiedlichen Zeiten (s.o.) spielen, aber ebenfalls mit häufigem Wechsel zwischen den drei Protagonistinnen parallel erzählt werden. Diese Zeitsprünge stören nicht, zumal sie genial inszeniert und geschnitten sind. Die Handlung einer Protagonistin geht quasi nahtlos in die der nächsten über. Es schellt, eine Protagonistin öffnet die Tür, und die Person vor der Tür erblickt die zweite Protagonistin, besser konnte man diese Übergänge m.E. nicht darstellen.Drei Frauen,ein Roman, und die Themen sind gesellschaftliche Umbrüche, Kriegstraumata im Erzählstrang Woolf und Laura Brown, Frauenemanzipation, steigendes Selbstbewußtseein von Dienstboten, Anforderungen, die der Selbstverwirklichung im Wege stehen, lesbische Liebe und Lebensbilanz..Virginia Woolf, deren Leben erheblich überschattet war durch eine schwere Depression mit wahnhaften Störungen (Stimmen-Hören) zieht eine Bilanz in ihrem Abschiedsbrief an den Ehemann (Stephen Dillane) :Auf ewig die Jahre zwischen uns. Auf ewig die Jahre. Auf ewig die Liebe. Auf ewig: die Stunden.Die drei Hauptdarstellerinnen sind brillant besetzt, und auch in den Nebenrollen so bekannte Namen wie Ed Harris, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, Claire Danes, John C.Reilly und Tony Collette.Meryl Streep darf man wohl als lebende Legende bezeichen, die Zahl ihrer Preise und Nominierungen ist Legion, 2003 war sie bereits 2fache Oscarpreisträgerin.Julianne Moore, 5 Oscar-Nominierungen, Gewinn mit "Still Alice", 3 Golden Globes. darf man ebenfalls zu den ganz Großen zählen.Nicole Kidmann erhielt für ihre Rolle der Virginia Woolf 2003 den Oscar: Wie auch die wunderbare Charlize Theron im Film über die Massenmörderin Aileen Woulos zeigte sie hier Mut zur "Häßlichkeit" oder zumindestens unvorteilhafte Maske, um Virginia ähnlicher zu sehen, mit Perücke und vergrößerter Nase., erst auf den zweiten Blick als die Schönheit, die sie ist, erkennbar.Keine der Darstellerinnen spielt sich in den Vordergrund, und wirklich besonders beeindruckend die tragische Gestalt Virginia Woolf, der Kidman permanent einen nachdenklich versunkenen oder latent verzweifelten Ausdruck verleiht, große Schauspielkunst.Virginia Woolf wählte als Bilanz eines Lebens mit Jahren und Stunden der Liebe, überschattet von ihrer psychischen Störung, 1941 den Freitod. Dieser bidet den Rahmen dess Filmes, mit ihm beginnt und endet er.Laura Brown steht ebenfalls kurz davor, aber nach Lektüre von "Mrs Dalloway" trifft die schwangere Frau und bereits Mutter eines Sohnes eine Entscheidung für die Zukunft, die wir überraschend kurz vor Ende des Fimes sehen.Clarissa Vaughan, sich aufreibend für andere und das eigene Glück, Tochter und Geliebte vernachlässigend, wird von Richard Brown erlöst, von Ed Harris ebenfalls hervorragend verkörpert.""The Hours", was auch ein von Woolf erwogener Titel für ihr Buch war, ist ein Schauspieler(innen)-Film, in dem drei Ikonen auf Augenhöhe ganz hervorragende Schauspiekunst zeigen, gleichzeitig ein Drama, in dem sie die Augen feucht werden lassen können.Ein Meisterwerk, das man gesehen haben sollte.Doc Halliday