A Renovated GREY GARDENS goes up for sale

The famous Grey Gardens mansion in the Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton has gone up for sale for $20M, according The Wall Street Journal. The home was featured in the 1975 documentary, "Grey Gardens" which featured its owner Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, known as "Big Edie" and her daughter "Little Edie" (shown in the photo below in front of the house.  Bouvier Beale was an aunt to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Little Edie’ Beale at Grey Gardens. PHOTO: EVERETT COLLECTION

The documentary illustrates the tragic, ruined lives of these two ladies and their house.  There was also a 2009 great television film dramatizing the story which starred Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as Big Edie and Little Edie, respectively.  A 2006 Broadway musical which continued to bring this tragic tale to the forefront. There was an LA production done of the musical at the Ahmanson Theater which starred Betty Buckley and Rachel York in the title roles which I saw in 2016.

Back to Grey Gardens the mansion which in the documentary was shown in complete ruin even though it was occupied.  The mansion eventually was bought by Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee, editor and journalist, respectively, of The Washington Post .   The property was restored by the couple.   According to Ms. Quinn, it was furnished with refurbished pieces that she found in the attic which belong to the Beales.

Interesting footnote, I thought, to a legendary story.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/grey-gardens-goes-on-the-market-for-nearly-20-million-1486570126

   

My favorite animal, the DOLPHIN, along with the elephant....Watch this documentary THE COVE

Really great, but very disturbing, documentary about the butchery of my second favorite animal, the dolphin (along with elephants)! I watched this last weekend.








Find out more about this documentary and the true story of what is happening to dolphins in Japan by clicking here: http://www.takepart.com/thecove

1

A MAN NAMED PEARL--Beautiful documentary film--another example of why I LOVE pearls

I love pearls as a mentioned a couple of postings back. They are so beautiful. But here is a unique, but equally beautiful, Pearl. We watched this documentary (thank you again to NetFlix) titled A Man Named Pearl the other night and we were just so moved and astounded at this man's talents.

A quote from the film's website: "A Man Named Pearl tells the inspiring story of self-taught topiary artist Pearl Fryar who has created the most magical topiary garden in his backyard. It is a subtle and intriguing film that is certain to open hearts and minds. It offers an upbeat message that speaks to respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the full expression of his humanity."



Here's the movie's trailer (short clip):


Part Edward Scissorhands (another one of my favorite films with one of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp) but all inspirational you'll want to see this film. This is such a wonderful story. Narrated by Forrest Sawyer. Here's another video clip



For more information on A Man Named Pearl visit the film's website at http://www.amannamedpearl.com/

To find out how to visit the Pearl Fryar garden visit this website at:
gardensite

See pearls are beautiful in every way:




Pearl Fryar in photo below

Check out this short video on how pearls are harvested:

THE SINGING REVOLUTION-documentary film about the liberation of a nation, Estonia--through singing

Continuing with my love for choral music, I should talk about another documentary that we watched recently which was titled THE SINGING REVOLUTION. The film tells the story of the tiny Soviet Union country of Estonia, who managed to win their independence without guns or tanks or bombs. Their weapon was their voices. The collective singing of a million people set them free from the Soviet Union and led to the eventual crumbling of the entire Soviet Union.

From the website for the documentary (click here to visit the singing revolution)
"Most people don’t think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1987 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence.

'The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit,' remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. 'This was the idea of the Singing Revolution.'

James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty’s The Singing Revolution tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way."

This film demonstrates the power of music and singing. We got it on NetFlix.......you won't be disappointed.

Here's the trailer:

MOVING MIDWAY--remarkable, beautiful documentary of a plantation in North Carolina....and so much more

We watched two documentaries this weekend. I'll talk about the first one in this posting and save the second one for a future entry.

We've been on a documentary binge......what a wonderful genre. Thanks to NetFlix there are hundreds to chose from.

We knew nothing about this film in advance, except the brief description on NetFlix. So we really had absolutely no preconceived notion or expectations. I'll give you a little background because you will not want to miss this special film.

Moving Midway is a documentary by Godfrey Cheshire, a New York film critic. NewYork Magazine named it runner-up as the best documentary film of 2008. (http://nymag.com/arts/cultureawards/2008/52779/index2.html). It is a movie about a family....it is a movie about a plantation. Most of all though it is a movie about our country, the South in particular. Cheshire returns to his family's ancestral plantation, Midway, in North Carolina in 2004 to discover that his cousin, Charlie Silver, who owns the land, has decided to have the buildings relocated. The lovely main house and outbuildings have been so encroached by growth, that they literally sit perched next to a busy highway, once a sleepy country road, and they seem poised to be gobbled up.

Initially, it is a story of the relocation of buildings, which in and of itself would be a fascinating focus of a film. But this film becomes so much more. On his way to discovering many interesting facts about the house, that it is haunted for example, Cheshire also discovers that his family is much larger than he or anyone else ever knew. And the fact that his cousin is selling the land to allow a parking lot for a gigantic shopping center to be built with all of the requisite stores has a much broader impact.

Cheshire discovers a whole branch of family when he is approached by Dr. Robert Hinton, an NYU professor of African-American studies (both seen in the photo above). It seems that the Midway's builder squired an entire family with one of his slaves. Hinton's grandfather was born a slave on the plantation. I offer this quote from the film's website:

"What is a Southern plantation? A relic of a bitter, divided past? A vanished realm of aristocratic charm and elegance? An impediment to the modern South’s frenzied effort to turn itself into an anonymous landscape of superhighways and strip malls?

Or, perhaps, all of the above, plus something else as well: a site for understanding and reconciliation, a meeting place of past and present, black and white.

A locus of home, family, enduring traditions…and new beginnings.........

While beginning a dialogue on the meaning of Midway from their very different perspectives, Cheshire and Dr. Hinton examine how the Southern plantation, a crucial economic institution in early America, generated a powerful, bitterly contested mythology that was at the center of a string of American cultural milestones, from Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Birth of a Nation to Gone with the Wind and Roots."

This film becomes a wonderful journey of discovery about so many things for the viewer as well as Cheshire and Hinton and their families. It truly transcends itself and becomes a remarkable, enlightening experience about our nation's true history. And we witness two distinct branches of a family as they get to know one another.

Watch these two short video clips to get an idea. The first is the trailer for the film. But the second is a television ad for the film which ran at the time of the '08 presidential election. It has some of the same footage but I think it illuminates the larger global themes of this wonderful documentary.




I was literally captivated every exquisite second of the 98 minutes of this film (I was particularly enchanted with Dr. Hinton who I found very appealing). It was so many things and it was such an amazing and rare film experience. Please see this movie. You'll have a beautiful experience I assure you. I somehow feel changed by having seen it.

Find out more at the film's website http://www.movingmidway.com/index.htm. (all photos above are copyright of Movingmidway.com)

GREY GARDENS-the documentary-Astonishing movie

A few days ago I watched Grey Gardens by brothers David and Albert Maysles (the 1975 documentary, not the recent HBO film). What an astonishing, breathtaking film. There is not a scriptwriter alive that could have written a screenplay like that. You really must see this film. We got it on Netflix. Okay, so this is a cult classic. But I didn't see it until now. So I'm behind!

I wanted to watch the documentary before I see the new HBO film, Grey Gardens, which stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as Mother Edie ("Big Edie") and her daughter, Edie Bouvier Beale, who were aunt and cousin respectively to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. While these two actresses are brilliant casting (I haven't seen the film yet), I am a little hesitant now to watch the movie after seeing the brilliant original documentary. How can anyone play these ladies, Big and Little Edie, better than themselves?

[Added 7/12/09]: I also should mention the Broadway musical, Grey Gardens, which won a Tony Award for Best Costume Design, and its two stars Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson each won Tony Awards for their performances. The Broadway production closed on July 29, 2007. It was the first musical on Broadway ever to be adapted from a documentary. (wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Gardens). While I didn't see this show I do have the cast recording and it is excellent. I particularly noticed the attention to the unique dialect of both Big and Little Edie which I thought translated quite well into a musical format.

Anyway this really is just a brilliant film in every way. It sort of transcends all genres of film: while it is a documentary it oftentimes seems like a play.

Here's the general story: two aging women, Big Edie and daughter, Edie, live in a rundown estate in East Hampton....really it is a state of complete, but elegant, dishabille and squalor. The two women are very eccentric. Very intelligent. Crazy really but in a wonderful way. The movie is a series of interviews and conversations with the two which at the same time highlights the completely rundown house. Edie sings, they both sing, they tell stories, they fight (a lot). It is one of the most fulfilling and captivating movies I have ever seen.

The two, daughter and mother, had been quite beautiful in the past. Young Edie had once been a model and an aspiring actress. Little Edie, born in 1917 and the eldest of ten grandchildren, was the family beauty, "surpassing even the dark charm of Jacqueline," according to their cousin John H. Davis, a professor who wrote a book about the Bouviers. (from New York magazine A "Return to Grey Gardens: There are still secrets left to tell about Little Edie Beale, including her diary. " By Gail Sheehy, Oct 29, 2006 http://nymag.com/arts/theater/features/23484/index1.html). In her younger days according to the article, "Edie dated Howard Hughes and likely had proposals from Joe Kennedy Jr. and J. Paul Getty, says Eva Beale, but always she sent her suitors away." (photo at right is from Everett Collection)

Little Edie constantly has her head covered throughout the film. She wears the most insane concoctions of clothing, brooches, scarves, shirts on her head, but they are absolutely gorgeous and chic, albeit bizarre, ensembles. According to Sheehy in her 2006 NewYork magazine article, Little Edie was bald because: "....cousin John told me about a summer afternoon when he watched Little Edie climb a catalpa tree outside Grey Gardens. She took out a lighter. He begged her not to do it. She set her hair ablaze. And in that act of self-immolation, she sealed her fate as a prisoner of the love of her mother."

The article in NewYork was written by Gail Sheehy who originally profiled the Beales for the cover story of the January 10, 1972 New York magazine. It was the magazine that caught the attention of the Maysles brothers. (the photo at left is from the New York article. Photo caption: Edith Bouvier Beale (Big Edie), David and Albert Maysles, and Edie Beale (Little Edie) during the filming of Grey Gardens; the author's New York Magazine cover story, January 10, 1972. (Photo: Everett Collection))

Here's a short clip (2min 46secs) from the film which I think captures the eccentricity. This segment features Little Edie Beale discussing "conformity" and East Hampton and the ultimate title of the original David and Albert Maysles documentary.

Here's one more short clip where you can see what I'm talking about Edie's fashion style. This is one of her more outrageous outfits ("the revolutionary costume" I think she calls it):

This movie is really just perfect. And the more background you read on the Beales the more intriguing and enigmatic their story. Here's just one interesting observation by Sheehy (I strongly recommend you read her article before you see the film.....the article is very fascinating http://nymag.com/arts/theater/features/23484/index1.html):

"Passed over by history, the ladies of Grey Gardens were left to the wreck of their lives until, sweet revenge! In the sixties, they were suddenly being indulged by a nervous White House. Secret Service cars were posted outside. As Davis recalls in his book, the Kennedy inauguration gave Little Edie a chance for her own theatrics. She reminded Joe Kennedy Sr. that she was once almost engaged to his firstborn son. And if Joe’s plane hadn’t gone down while he was bombing Nazis, 'she probably would have married him, and he would have become President instead of Jack and she would have become First Lady instead of Jackie!'"

And if you're interested in the HBO film with la Lange and la Barrymore here's the trailer *it's short too, only 2 minutes):

ABELARDO MORRELL--Camera Obscura--one of my favorite photographers

When I lived in San Diego a few years ago one of our neighbors was very involved in The Museum of Photographic Images (http://www.mopa.org/) which is in the Casa de Balboa building at the exquisite Balboa Park, one of San Diego's most captivating of places. I had never been to a museum devoted to photography although I'd always had a bit of interest in photography. I joined the museum and would visit periodically.

And then an exhibition came that completely mesmerized me. The exhibition was photographer Abelardo Morrell's "Camera Obscura." Camera Obscura, and I didn't know a thing about this, was a device that was invented by a Persian around 1000 AD which eventually led to photography.

Here's the wikipedia definition of camera obscura:

The camera obscura (Latin veiled chamber) is an optical device used, for example, in drawing or for entertainment. It is one of the inventions leading to photography. The principle can be demonstrated with a box with a hole in one side (the box may be room-sized, or hangar sized). Light from a scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface where it is reproduced, in color, and upside-down. The image's perspective is accurate. The image can be projected onto paper, which when traced can produce a highly accurate representation.

Using mirrors, as in the 18th century overhead version (illustrated in the Discovery and Origins section below), it is possible to project a right-side-up image. Another more portable type is a box with an angled mirror projecting onto tracing paper placed on the glass top, the image upright as viewed from the back.

As a pinhole is made smaller, the image gets sharper, but the projected image becomes dimmer. With too small a pinhole the sharpness again becomes worse due to diffraction. Some practical camera obscurae use a lens rather than a pinhole because it allows a larger aperture, giving a usable brightness while maintaining focus.

The photographer's exhibition was fascinating to me and I fell in love with the Morell's work. Here's just a few reasons why (all photographs are copyright of Abelardo Morrell):

Light Bulb, 1991

The Empire State Building in Bedroom, 1994
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, East Entrance in Gallery #171 with a deChirico Painting, 2006Times Square in Hotel Room, 1997

The Eiffel Tower in the Hotel Frantour, 1999

Camera Obscura: View of Central Park Looking North-Summer, 2008 The Grand Tetons in Resort Room, 1997

At the exhibition they had a walk-in camera obscura where you could observe the phenomenon yourself. The complicated set up and length of time it takes to capture these images, in so many different settings, is as elaborate as can be although the images themselves are beautiful in their simplicity.

I especially enjoyed his Alice In Wonderland series and the Book series!

Check out the trailer for a documentary film about Morrell titled Shadow of the House:


To order the DVD: http://www.shadowofthehouse.com/

If you're like me I just can't get enough of the beauty that this guy creates. Please visit Abelardo Morell's website at http://www.abelardomorell.net/photography/recent_01/recent_01.html to see the rest of his work. And please check out one of his exhibitions if it comes to your town.

Have a beautiful day!

King of Swaziland--documentary-one of the only absolute monarchy's left in the world

I watched the most remarkable documentary last night about the King of Swaziland, the African king who is one of the world's only absolute monarchs. Watch this official trailer from, Without The King, a new documentary about the last ruling monarchy in Africa, Swaziland.

Remarkable film.....remarkably appalling but a brilliant documentary.