Analysis of "Grey Gardens"

The following is an excerpt from an analysis I created of the 1975 documentary, Grey Gardens, by the Maysles brothers:

I believe that this documentary has definitely been able to hold up overtime just because of the issues it involves. This documentary focuses on things that are not really relevant to time. For example, mother-daughter relationships seldom change overtime, and I believe that, although these two have quite an unusual relationship, it is still comparable to the typical mother-daughter relationship. Their bickering over petty topics is very similar to the type of bickering I do with my mother. Also, this documentary portrays the attachment children have to their parents. Often times, children like to act independent and much older than they are, however, subconsciously they fear eventually leaving their parents and disconnecting the strong attachment they once had. In this piece, Edie blames her reasoning for still being at home to her having to take care of her mother, and if she didn’t have to attend to her she would be living in New York, however, it is clear that subconsciously she really just wanted to come home to be around her mother.

The strongest aspect of this documentary is definitely the characters and the footage that was captured of them. I don’t believe there could be two other people better for this documentary. Often times people living in seclusion would never let two strangers come into their isolated world, so the fact that the two welcomed them was incredible. Edith and Edie are so obscure and interesting that they really just draw in viewers and make you not want to take your eyes off of them. Their behavior, especially Edie’s, is creepy, and I found myself often times disturbed while watching the documentary, however, it still held my attention the entire time. The Maysles brothers did a phenomenal job at portraying the duo and capturing all of their strange characteristics and actions. I specifically enjoyed their different outfits throughout the documentary. Although their odd behavior is the most compelling part of this documentary, it is not too completely out there that one is not able to figure out the main themes of the piece.