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Relationships in 'The Hours' (extra-credit post!)

 Before we get started here, I'd just like to say that The Hours is a really good film. The plot, though slightly disjointed at times, is captivating and deeply emotional. The acting, of course, is top-notch (how can you go wrong with Meryl Streep?). Though the ending was rather dissatisfying and lacked closure, I still think that this movie is worth your time. 

One of the most fascinating aspects of the movie for me was the portrayal of relationships. Each of the three plotlines features a romantic relationship, plus at least one platonic relationship. Despite what you might think when a relationship is referred to as "romantic", all of these relationships were quite cold. Even Clarissa's relationship with Sally in the modern timeline seemed distant, and Clarissa was clearly not sharing a lot of things with Sally. The relationships in the earlier two timelines were significantly worse, with both women struggling severely with their mental health and living in times where mental health treatment/visibility was poor. 

In a time where the media still largely idealized marriage and mental health was so taboo, the way that The Hours handles these topics is revolutionary and frankly refreshing. Though it's really sad and difficult to see the main characters struggling alone, it's important to see realistic portrayals of rocky relationships in popular culture. After seeing what The Hours does with the featured relationships, I was able to more clearly notice the subtle tensions that it accentuates throughout Mrs. Dalloway. Overall, I think The Hours did a great job of noticing the themes throughout Mrs. Dalloway and adapting them into a modern and relevant movie. 

Comments

  1. Edward Kong14 October 2020 at 01:19

    I just watched The Hours and I definitely agree that it did a good job capturing the spirit of Virginia Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway. I think the disjointedness the you felt was actually kind of reminiscent of the flashbacks in films such as The Godfather Part 2, where we can see a young Vito Corleone not present in the other storyline, but still loosely connected to it.

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  2. Jake15 October 2020 at 10:48

    I agree that there was definitely disjointedness, especially at the beginning, but it began to feel more natural as the movie progressed. I would also agree that the ending left me a little unsatisfied. I like your point of all the relationships being cold, I didn't really think about Sally and Clarissa, but now that you mention it, their relationship seemed distant. Clarissa seemed to be closer in her relationships with her daughter and Louis and Richard, although that might just be because we did not see part of the relationship with Sally.

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