Grey Gardens
1975 / PG / 94 minutes / Criterion DVD
Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde
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A strange documentary.
The focus of the film is (present day in 1975) Edith Bouvier Beale, aka Big Edie, and her middle-aged daughter, Little Edie, at their decaying estate, Grey Gardens.
A little background first...
Edith Beale (Big Edie 1895-1977) was the aunt of Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, the widow of former US President John F. Kenedy. "Little Edie" (1917-2002) was Jacquelines first cousin.
Built in 1913, Grey Gardens is four acre estate with a 14-room house at 3 West End Road and Lily Pond Lane in the Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, New York. It is a neighborhood for only the seriously wealthy. Once named the "Most Beautiful Village in America" by National Geographic Magazine, East Hampton is the epicenter of money and power in the Hamptons.
Edith was a seriously wealthy socialite back in the 1920s-1930s. A major upper crust status family from Manhattan. The "Has many servants" type of wealthy. Around 1946 her husband bailed on her and little Edie. He sent a telegram from Mexico announcing divorce proceedings. He put his wife and daughter on a $300.00 per month allowance. Not nearly enough to maintain such a lavish piece of real estate. Neither Edie nor her daughter were accustomed to "work", so the house and grounds fell into severe disrepair as the decades passed.
The women become recluses, never leaving the house.
In October of 1971, after numerous complaints from neighbors, The Suffolk County Department of Health declared Grey Gardens unfit for human habitation. Inspectors found the two Beale women living in deplorable conditions; the home practically violated every building and health code on the books: rooms were covered with cat and raccoon feces, there were no working toilet facilities, no working appliances or utilities (the only running water tap was in the kitchen sink), mounds of empty pet food cans and other debris piled four feet high and running 15 feet long in the dining room, upholstery infested with fleas, shattered windows, and a tree growing through the ceiling of Big Edie's original bedroom. Everything, including Big Edie’s magnificent grand piano, had been left to rot. The Beales prepared their food on a small sterno stove in the bedroom.
An eviction process began.
Jackie Kenedy and her sister stepped in and helped prevent the eviction of the Beales by paying for a cleanup of the property.
But, in a very short time, the house was right back where it was in October of 1971.
Back to the film...
The filmmakers spend a few days with both Edies at their home, allowing the ladies to tell the story of their lives. The Beales change "costumes" quite frequently, some very elaborate. They sing and dance. They squabble. They look through old photo albums and reminisce. Little Edies describes how it is difficult to "See the line that separates the past from the present".
The house is literally rotting, again. Holes in walls and ceilings from rain leak rot. They have many cats, but no litter boxes. The cats just do their business on the floor and furniture. The fleas are so dense the filmmakers wear flea collars around their ankles. Racoons live in the attic, but travel through the walls and enter rooms via holes they have torn to steal food. The walls are covered in filth that looks deliberately splashed upon them. The floors are covered with unidentifiable waste that I wouldnt even trek across with army boots. Little Edie once takes a broom and sweeps trash from one location to a new spot eight feet away, and leaves it there. They unconsiously swat flies away from their food. They use only three rooms in the house. The others funtion as dumpsters for waste and trash. No running water or working toilets again.
It is tragic, fascinating, and a little guilt inducing to watch these two women. They are clearly mentally and emotionally "off" in more ways than I can even begin to describe. They are seemingly completely and utterly unaware of the fact that they live in absolute squalor. Somehow, because they refuse to forfeit the desireable address as a place of residency, they think they are still living the upper 1% lifestyle. The denial is of epic proportions. And becasue both women are actually intelligent, so is the sadness.
There is no story or point to the documentary, other than to stare in horror, amazement, and disbelief.
The filmmakers got the OK on the finished film from both ladies. In fact, after screening it, Little Edie proclaimed it "A Classic".
3/5
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) and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
, but I didn't like the movie (same with Street Fighter). Mario Bros. was just downright disgusting to me which says a lot, since as you can see, I had some pretty dubious tastes as a kid. 
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