Grey Gardens Movie on HBO

Grey Gardens tells the true story of a dysfunctional but strangely endearing mother and daughter relationship made noteworthy because of the familial relation they had to Jackie Kennedy. These two Park Avenue spoiled socialites, both named Edith Bouvier Beale, but they go by the names of Big Edie and Little Edie, retreat to their East Hampton summer home in the 1940s.

They go into seclusion at Grey Gardens hiding away from the society of New York and eventually everyone else. Big Edie is played by Jessica Lange and Little Edie is played by Drew Barrymore. Their performance is being hailed as nothing short of absolutely brilliant.

As the seclusion takes its toll on the pair they begin to spiral into a world of total insanity. At the same time their money becomes nonexistent and Grey Gardens falls into total disrepair and debris and then filth fills the rooms of the once stately manor.

In 1975 a documentary was made of the same name, Grey Gardens, done by documentarians Albert and David Maysles. They became interested in making the documentary after they read in the tabloids the story of the two women brought to light by a New York health department raid on their Grey Gardens home.

It took the Maysles brothers a year to convince the Beale women that they were sincere in wanting to make the documentary about them. Big Edie and Little Edie Beale had let so few people into the decaying Grey Gardens for so long that they were very uncomfortable with the idea presented. Eventually they are so intrigued with the idea of making a movie that they agree to let the film makers make Grey Gardens.

The resulting story was the product of six weeks that the Maysles's spent with the mother and daughter of Grey Gardens. They captured in very raw, honest recording the isolated day-to-day existence of these two women who lived in desolate squalor with their cats in East Hamptons.

HBO is remaking this documentary to air on Saturday April 18^th 2009. Barrymore and Lange are amazing in their portrayal of the mother daughter pair and bring across the complicated dynamics of the relationship that is central to Grey Gardens.

There was also a musical done of Grey Gardens by Doug Wright and won awards for its run on Broadway in 2006. The musical was based on the book of the same name.