Grey Gardens

The story of Big and Little Edie Beale, the eccentric cousins of one Jackie Kennedy Onassis, gets a brand new spit shine courtesy of the American Film Archive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Albert and David Maysles's documentary, codirected with Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, has never looked sharper or sounded clearer than in this loving and painstakingly produced restoration.

In the years since its 1976 release, the film "Grey Gardens" has become a classic example of the documentary. Initially intending to create a documentary about Lee Radziwill and her sister, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and their summers with their family in the Hamptons, the Maysles's almost accidentally stumbled upon the Beales's and Grey Gardens. Once the brothers met Big and Little Edie, however, they were convinced that that was where the real story lived, and focused on creating a documentary about the unusual mother and daughter. Former women of society and breeding, Big and Little Edie came to spend their days tending to their several cats, dilapidated house and memories of days gone by.

Utilizing a technique birthed in the Direct Cinema movement, of which the brothers were pioneers, the Maysles's covered the women in a way that never seemed intrusive or interview-ey, but intimate and personal. The filmmakers put the viewer right in that house with those ladies and allowed the viewer to more or less experience their lives, for better or worse, as they were being lived. We were witness to the strange, yet thicker-than-blood bond that held mother and daughter together amongst the decay and squalor that surrounded them at Grey Gardens, the East Hampton mansion where Big and Little Edie lived for most of their lives. Considering the splendor of their earlier, younger lives, part of the power of the film is bearing witness to the shocking state in which the women lived in their later years. The resulting film has since become a cult classic and cemented Big and Little Edie as something they always saw themselves as: Quasi-celebrities.

The restoration manually removed a multitude of instances of dirt and debris from the 35mm master, resulting in an infinitely clearer picture than that seen in 1976. Additionally, the sound technicians at Audio Mechanics in Burbank restored the original soundtrack and removed clicks, crackle and other sound imperfections using Sonic HD and Cedar technology. A glorious and beautiful film has emerged from the arduous and detailed work of these talented restorers. This is the "Grey Gardens" that Big and Little Edie would've wanted us to see.