The Hours

[I, Brian]

Watched this last night - a quality film, but more focused on artistic presentation than plot development.

Essentially, it's focused on juxtaposing the psychological environments of three female protagonists separately living in the 1920's, 1950's, and present day - who are all connected to the story "Mrs Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf.

In fact, one of the characters is a suicidal Virginia Woolf herself, played by an accomplished Nicole Kidman.

The film is very well directed, and the overall cast are of the highest standard - Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore carry off the other feamle roles with real skill. Ed Harris manages to carry off a very believable support-role of someone dying of AIDs.

It's a very arty and leftist film - something you might expect from France more than Hollywood - but it really is well executed, and it certainly deserves appropriate accolade as a work of art.

As a film fixated on suicide, AIDs, and homosexuality, it's not an uplifting film, though.