"Grey Gardens" is a riveting documentary about a mother and daughter who live in their deteriorating home, having little contact with others.
This is a documentary in the true sense of the word, where the filmmaker does little more than document, without intent to impose a point of view. The camera merely follows the pair of women through their daily routines. On the other hand, it is impossible for the filming to not influence the behavior of the subjects, especially with Edith and Edie, who seemingly love to perform for the camera, and who enjoy having the crew around--probably because they offer a welcome interruption to their relative loneliness.
The women live with a multitude of cats. They even feed the raccoons that have breached the interior walls of the rotting mansion. Mother and daughter interact with each other as if the daughter, Edie, was a young girl. They might bicker sometimes, but each is the other's link to the past, a shared history, memories of better days.
The result is reminiscent of Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations", living as much in the past as the present.
This is a documentary in the true sense of the word, where the filmmaker does little more than document, without intent to impose a point of view. The camera merely follows the pair of women through their daily routines. On the other hand, it is impossible for the filming to not influence the behavior of the subjects, especially with Edith and Edie, who seemingly love to perform for the camera, and who enjoy having the crew around--probably because they offer a welcome interruption to their relative loneliness.
The women live with a multitude of cats. They even feed the raccoons that have breached the interior walls of the rotting mansion. Mother and daughter interact with each other as if the daughter, Edie, was a young girl. They might bicker sometimes, but each is the other's link to the past, a shared history, memories of better days.
The result is reminiscent of Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations", living as much in the past as the present.