Dir. Stephen Daldry, US, 2002, 114 mins
Cast:
Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, John C Reilly, Stephen Dillane
"It was death. I chose life", says Laura Brown, the character played by Julianne Moore, near the end of The Hours. These two short sentences neatly sum up the central theme of Stephen Daldry's absorbing, complex drama, adapted from Michael Cunningham's acclaimed novel.
By exploring a day in the life of three women whose lives cover a period of roughly a century, Daldry shows the extent to which women have enjoyed greater freedom (in Western societies, anyway) over the course of the 20th century. Perhaps because of its deliberate pacing and reliance on dialogue, The Hours has been described as sombre, even depressing viewing. However, while the film is not obviously uplifting, its message should be seen as a positive one.
David Hare's screenplay links the three women through the Virginia Woolf novel Mrs Dalloway. Brown is a suburban housewife in 1950s Los Angeles who is unfulfilled by the apparent domestic bliss of her marriage to her doting husband, Dan (the ubiquitous John C Reilly), but is inspired by reading the novel. Woolf herself, played by Nicole Kidman, is the second woman. The film shows her in the 1920s when she wrote the book while confined to an unhappy existence in her countryside English home with husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane). The third woman is Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep), living in contemporary New York, who is nicknamed 'Mrs Dalloway' because she appears to live out the life of the book's character.
Each of these women faces problems, and each deals with it in a different manner. For Woolf, the solution is suicide. Brown abandons her family to seek out a solitary existence in Canada. Vaughan moves in with her lesbian lover, but spends much of her time caring for her AIDS-stricken ex-boyfriend Richard Brown (Ed Harris), a poet who, we learn near the end of the film, is Laura's son. Her life is one that is, broadly speaking, acceptable to society today, but it is clearly not an option that would have been available to Woolf. Daldry switches between the different characters and periods effortlessly. His direction is marvellously assured, and he makes especially good use of Philip Glass' wistful original score.
The period recreation is outstanding and contributes significantly towards the social fabric against which the film's themes are played out. And then there is the acting, which is outstanding. The three leads, in particular, are terrific, although ironically it's Kidman's Oscar-winning performance that is the least impressive. Other than one scene with Leonard on a train station, she does little other than look gloomy. Streep and Moore are wonderful, though. Yes, their characterisations are familiar, but the work is exemplary nonetheless. There's a scene at the end of the film involving both of them that is especially poignant as Streep, America's most consistently impressive actress over the last two decades, literally leaves the screen to Moore, who has emerged over the last 5 years as the most likely candidate to claim that mantle.
There are sterling performances amongst the supporting cast as well. Dillane offers a powerful but understated portrayal, Harris relishes his showy role as the dying poet and Toni Collette is excellent as Laura's friend Kitty Barlowe. One unfortunate exception is Jack Rovello, who plays the young Richard Brown. He doesn't come across as a natural performer and his scenes with Moore suffer as a result.
The Hours has been unfairly described by some as a deliberate attempt by Miramax to 'create' an award-winning art movie. It may not appeal to all tastes, but this is an exquisite piece of filmmaking that deals with important issues.
Justin Whitton |
