Luxury gone awry...

After our fabulous dinner (and my hurried blog post) last night, Brandon and I settled in to watch "Grey Gardens". Brandon had never seen it before, and I was happy to watch the film again. If you haven't checked it out, you simply must.

"Grey Gardens" is a documentary that was filmed in the early 70's by the Maysles brothers. The film follows the ladies Beale of Grey Gardens--mother Big Edie and daughter Little Edie. The ladies were related to Jackie O and once enjoyed a life of luxury and high society in the Hamptons in a sprawling mansion and beautiful gardens. By the time the filmmakers catch up with the Edies they've run out of money and Grey Gardens is in a disastrous state of disrepair--so bad that the NY Health Department threatened to evict them before Jackie O came and cleaned up the place. The film takes place after the cleanup, and mother and daughter continue to live among cats, raccoons and who knows what else in complete squalor.

Both Edies have larger than life personalities, Big Edie prides herself on being a great singer in her day and Little Edie always longed to be an actress and a dancer. Each shows off her talents in the film. They've spent so much time together, just the two of them, that they're both a bit demented--they laugh, fight, and reminisce about grander days of yore.

The film by turns is funny, appalling and heartbreaking. To witness two ladies who lived a life of high style and luxury sink to the very depths of degeneration is almost a train wreck to watch, but once you start, you can't look away.

HBO recently filmed a nice companion piece to the doco starring Jessica Lange as Big Edie and Drew Barrymore as Little Edie. The film provides some backdrop on the ladies to round out the story of how they came to participate in the documentary, and both actresses are absolutely dead on in their portrayal of the Beals.

So put it in your Netflix queue or pick up a copy from Amazon. You won't be disappointed with "Grey Gardens".