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Screened by Belfast Film Festival’s in 2004, the Maysles Brothers’ Grey Gardens is a cult classic of major proportions – a musical of it has just hit Broadway, a movie is being made with Jessica Lange! For those who are among its greatest fans and those yet to discover it’s delights, this new film is nothing short of a must-see.

The original film is expanded upon, with more clips and additional edits of its most famous scenes. There is more on the cats; on the hen-pecking and teasing of the handyman Gerry; more about Edie’s flirtations with the Maysles themselves; the house even catches fire!! and all the while Little Edie still has time to create her own fashion miracles. What once was an incisive dissection on mother-daughter relationships in the original, here becomes a wonderful celebration of the Beales and their eccentricity. Pure pleasure.

The legendary little Edie returns with more cats, more fashion shows, more dancing and more of her inimitable philosophy of life.

“Half mad and completely compelling, Little Edie and Big Edie flood the Maysles brothers’ camera with their oddball antics and batty conversation … an instant cult classic.”
The New York Times.

Dir. David and Albert Maysles, 1976, USA, 90 mins, 12A, Maysles Associates