I was intrigued by the movie The Hours, but I was often confused. The three storylines were a lot to take in and sometimes I felt like I was caught in a whirlwind. For a lot of the movie I was confused as to why the 1951 storyline was there, however, once I understood how the movie's storylines came together, the movie made a lot of sense with each storyline illuminating aspects of life in the other storylines. For example, Laura's conversation with Clarissa shows both women's struggles in being a caretaker. I ended up really enjoying this three-storyline format since it was cool to see some of the aspects of Mrs. Dalloway manifest themselves in three different lives in three different time periods.
I was especially interested by how the move helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the novel. Virginia and Laura both end up engrossed with the world of the character Mrs. Dalloway, while Clarissa ends up to a certain extent living out the life of, well, Clarissa. I viewed Laura's part as bringing to life the effects of depression on Mrs. Dalloway. I think this gives me a better understanding of the novel since it gives me a better picture of Mrs. Dalloway's own depression. I never really focused on the depression of Clarissa in the novel, partly due to my focus on Septimus' depression. By seeing Clarissa's depression more clearly I can see yet another connection between Clarissa (novel) and Septimus' characters. The 2001 storyline is in many ways the novel coming to life. Seeing issues faced by Clarissa in the book (things like societal pressures and her homosexuality) on the screen gave me a better visualization of the character of Mrs. Dalloway.
Virginia Woolf's storyline in the movie gave me a lot of insights into the novel. By featuring Woolf's storyline, we see that Woolf has written many of her personal experiences into Clarissa's character. Seeing Woolf on screen makes those personal experiences more real, which is a valuable contribution. Woolf's discussions with her husband Leonard were also very useful to me. The most striking of these moments came when Leonard asked why someone had to die in the novel. Virginia responds by saying that it makes life more meaningful for everyone else, and I can see that now in Mrs. Dalloway. When asked who was going to die (so asking about Septimus' character), her response is that the character that dies is a visionary and a poet. That was quite profound to me. My very first impressions of Septimus (which have since changed; you can look at my first post for a deeper look) were that he was a madman and was in need of help. Seeing how Woolf describes Septimus puts to shame that idea that Septimus is at first a madman in need. The movie really exposed how much I devalued the richness Septimus' character at the beginning.
The Hours is a really well done movie that I recommend to anyone, especially if you're trying to gain a deeper understanding of Mrs. Dalloway.
I was especially interested by how the move helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the novel. Virginia and Laura both end up engrossed with the world of the character Mrs. Dalloway, while Clarissa ends up to a certain extent living out the life of, well, Clarissa. I viewed Laura's part as bringing to life the effects of depression on Mrs. Dalloway. I think this gives me a better understanding of the novel since it gives me a better picture of Mrs. Dalloway's own depression. I never really focused on the depression of Clarissa in the novel, partly due to my focus on Septimus' depression. By seeing Clarissa's depression more clearly I can see yet another connection between Clarissa (novel) and Septimus' characters. The 2001 storyline is in many ways the novel coming to life. Seeing issues faced by Clarissa in the book (things like societal pressures and her homosexuality) on the screen gave me a better visualization of the character of Mrs. Dalloway.
Virginia Woolf's storyline in the movie gave me a lot of insights into the novel. By featuring Woolf's storyline, we see that Woolf has written many of her personal experiences into Clarissa's character. Seeing Woolf on screen makes those personal experiences more real, which is a valuable contribution. Woolf's discussions with her husband Leonard were also very useful to me. The most striking of these moments came when Leonard asked why someone had to die in the novel. Virginia responds by saying that it makes life more meaningful for everyone else, and I can see that now in Mrs. Dalloway. When asked who was going to die (so asking about Septimus' character), her response is that the character that dies is a visionary and a poet. That was quite profound to me. My very first impressions of Septimus (which have since changed; you can look at my first post for a deeper look) were that he was a madman and was in need of help. Seeing how Woolf describes Septimus puts to shame that idea that Septimus is at first a madman in need. The movie really exposed how much I devalued the richness Septimus' character at the beginning.
The Hours is a really well done movie that I recommend to anyone, especially if you're trying to gain a deeper understanding of Mrs. Dalloway.
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