The Hours (2003, DVD)

Where to start when talking about a movie like The Hours? With Virginia Woolf and the original story of Mrs. Dalloway? That might be a good place, if I knew thing one about either. With the disease that is depression, and how it affects those who have it and the people who love them? Well, that s an entire thesis all by itself. Even breaking the movie down and talking about the individual elements is really insufficient. The whole being so much greater than the sum of the parts. I suppose the only reasonable way to tackle this movie is to start where the filmmakers did. At the beginning. Well, they didn t even quite do that. But I will.

The Hours opens in England in the year 1931 with the author Virginia Woolf (a truly unrecognizable Nicole Kidman) penning a suicide note to her husband, Leonard (Stephen Dillane). As we hear her words of pain and love, we see her walking slowly to the river. As she tells him that she can no longer go on, the suffering being too great, she methodically drowns herself. Her suicide note itself is a work of art, written by someone with an enormous talent with the written word. Unfortunately, this is not enough to save her life. This single scene sets the tone for the whole of the film. This isn t a cheery movie. It s about pain, emotional and physical.

After our brief introduction to Virginia Woolf, the film sets out its three main stories. We have the story of Wolff, pushed back to 1923, as she sets about writing Mrs. Dalloway. She is living in the English countryside with her protective husband and a couple of less than ideal servants. She clearly has a significant history of being mentally fragile. As she sets about writing her story, we see her turn inward, searching for the characters and the plot. She knows they will come to her if she is able to let them.

We also have the story of Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), set in Los Angeles in 1951. Laura has the picture perfect 1950 s home. She also has a husband, Dan (John C. Reilly), and an adorable son, Richie (Jack Rovello). Unfortunately she is also miserable and depressed to the point of being nearly unable to function. Nobody around her seems to take much notice of this, save for her son, who watches her fumble helplessly. He tries to help, but clearly can t understand. All he knows is that what he sees frightens him. Laura has just begun reading the story of Mrs. Dalloway.

The third story in this triad is that of Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) and is set in the year 2001. Clarissa is in the midst of planning a grand party for her friend Richard (Ed Harris) who has just been awarded a prestigious literary prize. Richard is incapacitated by AIDS, has dramatic mood swings, and clearly has a long and complicated history with Clarissa. She is much more invested in this party than he is, to the point of being frantic in her preparations. Clarissa has a daughter Julia (Claire Danes) and a lover, Sally (Allison Janney), who do what they can to help with the party, while having their own issues with Clarissa s relationship with Richard. Richard s pet name for Clarissa is Mrs. Dalloway.

The movie leaps between these stories, as each woman deals with her own crises. The story of Mrs. Dalloway being the most obvious connection. Each is suffering from depression, though to different degrees and with vastly different outcomes. How each woman deals with depression, and how the society in which each lives deals with those who suffer in its clutches, is a prominent theme. Virginia is treated with kid gloves, most of the time, and simply expected to get better. She can t imagine how her life has come to such a wretched point. She is articulate and strong enough to fight against the restrictions placed upon her by doctors, but is helpless in the face of the illness itself. She is, perhaps, a sterling example of the stereotypical tortured artist whose talent and introspection not only can t help her with her actual life, but also undoubtedly hurt her attempts to be different, more like other people. This is, after all, what everyone around her wants her to be.

Laura, at 5 months pregnant, may be the most typically depressed of the group. Distracted, unkempt and detached from her life, she struggles to live the dream that she feels she should want. With nobody around to acknowledge her pain, she is isolated with nothing but misery. She isn t happy in this life, but can t quite admit that. She may also be unsure of her sexuality, but most certainly cannot face that.

Clarissa is the character whose depression stems from the plight of others, as well as her own. She is tortured at the thought of losing Richard, and tries to flee from this by indulging in frantic activity and forced joviality. If she can do enough things, maybe the inevitable won t happen after all. As the stories weave and loop, there are surprises in store, on top of the rich tales of these three women.

These three very different women and their respective plights are woven seamlessly throughout the movie. Jumping from one to the other should be disconcerting, but it isn t. If anything, the separate story lines help break up the film. A sole focus on any of these stories would be so heavy that it would be hard to watch. Somehow, by incorporating all three, director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter David Hare (based on the novel by Michael Cunningham) manage to dilute the misery just enough to give the film considerable power but avoid leaving the audience as depressed as the characters. This is quite a trick, considering the maudlin nature of the material. Even with such a powerful main theme, Daldry manages to bring in more subtle (and relatively unexplored) material as well. The expectations placed on women in these time periods, the options available to them, the fluidity of sexuality. They re all in here, adding layers of complexity onto each character and making her all the more whole.

The lead performances are outstanding. Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf is, as I said before, nearly unrecognizable. Not only the much talked about prosthetic nose, but her entire bearing as well transform her into this character. She shows a great ability to turn inward, with Virginia listening to her own inner voices, to both her benefit and detriment. Even her speech is low and slow, her actions aimless and at times inexplicable. Kidman does an excellent job with this very demanding role. Julianne Moore is just as much a revelation as Laura. She looks disheveled, frazzled and near tears almost all of the time. The stark difference between her appearance and attitude and those of the people around her only magnify her plight. The pain at her misery being ignored is visible and heartbreaking. Meryl Streep as Clarissa is, quite unexpectedly, the weakest link here. She is a little too shrill, a little too self absorbed, a little too everything. The performance is most certainly not bad by any means, but it lacks the subtlety of the others. Some of this is inherent to the character, but Streep plays her just a touch too far over the top.

The supporting performances are, again, outstanding. Ed Harris as Richard is manic, sad, heartbreakingly ill and riveting. He brings a lot of depth to this character in a relatively few scenes. His is the performance that carries this third of the movie. He supports the character of Clarissa well enough to help over come the shortcomings there. John C. Reilly once again takes on the thankless role of the clueless husband, and does a stellar job. Allison Janney as Clarissa s lover is patient but clearly exasperated with her partner. Claire Danes is given very little to do, but comes across well. Stephen Dillane as Leonard Woolf deserves special mention as the loving, sacrificing husband who tries, but simply can t understand his wife. He has one particular scene where his frustration comes bubbling to the surface that works marvelously well. Honorable mention also to Jack Rovello as the haunted, frightened Richie. An excellent job from such a young actor.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey takes us from one time period to the other with ease. Using lighting and setting as much as costume and props, we always know where we are. Some of the best unifying thematic elements are visual. Water, cooking, food, kisses. These things show up in each of the time periods, although in vastly different ways. The way they are filmed is what brings them together as easily recognizable common elements. The score by Philip Glass is also wonderful. As one would perhaps expect from Glass, the music has a metronomic quality that richly highlights the tedium and endless quality of depression. An excellent compliment to the film.

The Hours is a story of the lives of three very different women across time. Each unique in her plight, yet each embodying the mind numbing reality of depression. Daldry manages to pull them together using a single literary device as well as a plethora of small unifying visuals. The Hours is not a happy movie. It s not a movie that solves every dilemma and ties it neatly with a bow. It s depressing. But that s not necessarily a bad thing. It s depressing, but it presents the viewer with rich, memorable characters and a lot of material to think about when it s over. If you re looking for any comic relief, or neatly sewn up endings, steer clear. Otherwise, I recommend it highly.



*DVD extras include commentary by Streep , Kidman, Moore, Daldry and Cunningham, a filmmakers introduction, as well as the trailer and previews. Also included are four separate segments entitled Three Women, The Mind and Times of Virginia Woolf, The Music of The Hours and The Lives of Mrs. Dalloway.