Grey Gardens

So, I just finished watching Grey Gardens, which is this 1970s documentary about two cousins of Jackie Kennedy who live in a dilapidated East Hampton mansion, arguing, ignoring each other, and endlessly reminiscing about their youth. That sentence does not even begin to encompass this movie, though--it transcends each of the elements described above, in turn. It's the kind of movie people get obsessed with. The introduction from the Criterion Collection release is worth reading. Just rent it, though.

My favourite part of the movie is when Edith Bouvier Beale Jr. ("Little Edie") explains her outfit to the documentary filmmaker:

Because I don't like women in skirts, and the best thing is to wear pantyhose or some pants under a short skirt, I think. Then you have the pants under the skirt and then you can pull the stockings up over the pants, underneath the skirt. And you can always take off the skirt and use it as a cape! So I think this is the best costume for today... I have to think these things up, you know?

(The house that gives the film its title has been purchased and restored. I found these photos that show its current condition.)

I'm totally getting my money's worth from my zip subscription this month. Unemployment! I've watched 13 movies in 3 weeks, and Grey Gardens is the one I'm most likely to watch obsessively, although I also really liked both The Science of Sleep and King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.