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| Three of the world's leading actresses of their day in a wealth of striking, muted pastel colors on a poster for Stephen Daldry's The Hours |
In 1923 outside London, author Virginia Woolf has begun writing her book Mrs. Dalloway and walks into a river. In 1950s Los Angeles a housewife attempts to escape her life. And in 2001 in New York a woman just wants to throw a fabulous party for her friend, who is sick with AIDS.
The Hours is written by David Hare (Via Dolorosa (2000)), based on the same-titled 1998 novel by Michael Cunningham (Flesh and Blood (1995)), and directed by English master filmmaker Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliott (2000)), whose 2nd feature it is.
Cunningham's complex and unusual novel is an awe-inspiring task to adapt and it is something of a miracle that Daldry here translates it to the big screen with such strength and elegance. It feels superfluous to give praise to individuals in a case such as The Hours, in which everything simply seems to be perfect.
The Hours is laden with the pain of life and beautiful in all aspects.
Related posts:
Stephen Daldry: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) or, The Boy Who Lost His Father
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
The Reader (2008) or, Guilt, Words and Love
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 108.8 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.35 times its cost)
[The Hours premiered 15 December (New York) and runs 114 minutes. Shooting took place from January - June 2001 in Florida, New York and England, including London. Kidman was paid 7.5 mil. $ for her performance. The film opened #31 to a 338k $ first weekend in 11 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,010 theaters (different weeks), grossing 41.6 mil. $ (38.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 6.8 mil. $ (6.3 %) and the UK with 6.7 mil. $ (6.2 %). The film was nominated for 9 Oscars, winning for Best Actress (Nicole Kidman (Flirting (1991))). It lost Best Picture to Chicago, Supporting Actor (Ed Harris (The Way Back (2010))) to Chris Cooper in Adaptation., Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore (6 Souls (2010))) to Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago, Director to Roman Polanski for The Pianist, Adapted Screenplay to Ronald Harwood for The Pianist, Costume Design to Chicago, Editing to Chicago and Score (Philip Glass (The Eden Myth (1999))) to Elliot Goldenthal for Frida. It also won 2/11 BAFTA nominations, an AFI award, an award at the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for a César award, nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 2/7 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, won 2 National Board of Review awards and several more honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Daldry returned with Elton John: Electricity (2005, music video) and Fussballfieber (2006, segment) prior to his theatrical return with The Reader (2008). Kidman returned in Dogville (2003); Moore in Marie and Bruce (2004); and Meryl Streep (It's Complicated (2009)) in an uncredited cameo, 2 TV credits and a short prior to her theatrical return in The Manchurian Candidate (2004). The Hours is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Hours?
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