Albert and David Mayles' Grey Gardens chronicles the unbelievable story of Mrs. Edith Beal and her daugher Edie, aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Edith and Edie live in a secluded manion in the Hamptons, surrounded by decay and overgrown shrubbery that has consumed the once proud Mansion known as Grey Gardens. So far removed from society, Edith an Edie once found themselves threatened by eviction by the local authories, due to violating numerous living violations and sanitation codes. Born an aristicrat, Edith groomed her daughter Edie into an aspiring actress in New York, with her stirking beautiy leading to courtship attempts from many members of high society. Grey Gardens is a fascinating documentary that explores two eccentric characters who've long lived together in a secluded setting. The film paints a vivid portrait of two souls, capturing the overwhelming dependecy that has consumed both fo them. Using a very obversational lense, the Mayles brothers film these two characters in an intimate setting, capturing small details of these characters with insert shots which bring this strange and vivid world to life. Edith and Edie clearly care for each other very much but what Mayles' Grey Gardens does so well is capture the volatility of dependency, subtely showing the oppresion and hostility that can arise from deep-seeded dependence. Edie is a tragic character due to this, being a woman who had the world in front her, though she was never able to find her independence and truly set out into it. There is really no question that Edie and Edith suffer from some deep-seeded mental issues due to their secluded environment and unhealthy dependency, but what makes this documentary so impressive is that it never takes the easy way out, attempting to understand why these womant are the way the are, never writing off their eccentric qualities as merely the work of a mentally disturbed individual
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June 2023
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