The Hours is a brilliant film with a well written script and outstanding acting performances. Nicole Kidman won her first Oscar with her performance as Virginia Wolf in The Hours. Virginia Wolf is the author and she creates a world where three completely different women’s (Clarissa, Virginia and Laura) lives connect in a way. The film is about a single day in those women’s lives and their whole lives are revealed in a one single day.

Virginia Wolf’s story is set in 1920s. She is a stagnant and depressed English writer who struggles to finish her novel “Mrs Dalloway”. Her day is basically about the struggles and challenges she faces. She keeps changing the ending of her novel. However her battle is ending with her death. Audience know it since the beginning of the film as the opening scene is her writing a suicide letter to her husband then filling her pockets with stones and drowning herself in a nearby lake.

This scene suggests that death is not something that Virginia is afraid of. She lays down by the dead bird and looks at it as if she admires it. She wants to be in her position and go back to where she came from, end her suffering and be free forever. Committing suicide was on her mind since the beginning. Dealing with depression and loneliness was too difficult for her to overcome.

The heroine of the next story is Laura Brown portrayed by Julianne Moore. She is a housewife with a young son in 1940s. She reads the book that Virginia wrote, “Mrs Dalloway”. She seems very unhappy with her life to the point that she feels nothing at all. There is no excitement in the life she lives as a housewife. She feels like a failure, she cannot even bake a cake. As if this was not enough, she has lesbian tendencies just like other two women in the film. She reaches a point where she is about to kill herself but she chooses not to. It might be because her behaviour is influenced by the book she reads and in that book, Virginia (the writer) decides not to kill one of the main characters.

In this scene, Laura books a hotel room for herself to be alone and end her life. We see water rushing into the room. The water is a metaphor of thoughts in the film. It can be seen at the opening scene as well where Virginia drowns herself. It is just like they are drowned by their own thoughts and depressions. However Laura survives unlike Virginia. Her life is synchronised with the heroine of Virginia’s novel. She decides not to kill her character and Laura survives, or just keeps breathing because her life is still dull and miserable and she still feels hopeless.

The third story is set in 2001 which is modern time compared to the other two stories. It is about the life of Clarissa Vaughan by Meryl Streep. She is an editor in New York city. She reads the book Mrs. Dalloway just like Laura. She is looking after her friend Richard Brown who has AIDS. There is something between them but it feels like Richard gave up on any kind of feeling after he got ill. He does not have passion in life. He already gave up on his life and survives just for Clarissa but she is not ready to let him go. She does not want to believe the fact that he being alive is a torture to him.

She reveals in this scene that she does not feel any kind of happiness when she is not with Richard. She is in pain. She has a female partner called Sally but it is not clear if she even loves her. She feels emptiness in her heart just like other two women in the film. She wants to seem strong and act strong but she is in an enormous pain inside, she is dying of desperation. She is desperate to keep Richard alive if his situation can be called “alive”. She wants to do something for Richard, make him feel significant, therefore, she arranges a party for him as a writer but he is reluctant to attend.

This scene is the most touching and emotional scene of the film. Richard makes it crystal clear that living is just facing the hours for him. He just suffers. The fact that he lets the sunlight into his dark shadowy flat, indicates that death is his happy ending, his sunlight. He recalls his teenage memories with Clarissa and cherishes them for the last time. He says “I love you” to Clarissa for the last time and ends his life. He finally reaches tranquility and peace.

At the end of the film, there is a connection with Clarissa and and Laura’s lives. Laura is the mother of Richard and she abandoned him and his baby sister after she gave birth to her. It was a smart move to create connection between two stories that way. It was a shock for the audience because it was not predicted. The film was a masterpiece but in my opinion, one of the three stories was dominant. I do not know if it was done like that intentionally but Clarissa’s story seems to be the main story where most action happen. The others seem dull compared to it.

personal ranking 9/10