Three women, tenuously linked over time, struggle with their day-to-day, the threat of death ever present.
Taking place within the span of a single day in three different time periods, The Hours alternates between novelist Virginia Woolf in 1923 and the fictional characters Laura Brown and Clarissa Vaughan. Connected by a haunting minimalist score by Philip Glass, director Stephen Daldry presents a relentlessly bleak but perversely beautiful feature, a narrative of deep sadness yet austere hope.
Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) drowns herself in 1941: but in 1923, suffering from depression and anxiety, she has reluctantly absenced herself from London society with her husband Leonard to focus on the writing of the book, Mrs Dalloway. Nearly 30 years later, an unhappily married Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) checks into a Los Angeles hotel, pregnant with her second child. The book Mrs Dalloway is at her bedside. Like her namesake in Woolf’s novel, Clarissa (Meryl Streep) is preparing to host a party. It is in honour of the celebrated poet and author, Ed Harris, a former lover now living with AIDS.
Interweaving these stories, The Hours is an intelligent, noble feature of superb central performances and first rate scripting by David Hare in his adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s novel.
Nominated for 9 Oscars in 2003 including best film, director, adapted screenplay, supporting actor, supporting actress (Julianne Moore), won 1 (best actress – Nicole Kidman).
Rating: 72%
Director: Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, Trash)
Writer: David Hare (The Reader, The White Crow) – based on the novel by Michael Cunningham
Main cast: Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!, The Beguiled), Meryl Streep (Ironweed, The Devil Wears Prada), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights, Bel Canto)
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