The Hours is a 2002 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham, which was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs Dalloway. The film follows three women in different periods who are all connected by Woolf’s book and their struggles with depression, suicide, and identity. The film won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Kidman, who played Woolf and was nominated for eight other Oscars, including Best Picture.

The film is divided into three segments, each focusing on one of the main characters:

• In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Kidman) is writing Mrs Dalloway in her home in Richmond, England, while suffering from mental illness and feeling trapped by her marriage and society.
• In 1951, Laura Brown (Moore) is a pregnant housewife in Los Angeles, who is unhappy with her life and her husband. She reads Mrs Dalloway and plans to throw a birthday party for her husband, but also contemplates suicide.
• In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Streep) is a successful editor in New York, who is preparing a party for her friend and former lover Richard (Ed Harris), a poet dying of AIDS. Richard calls her “Mrs. Dalloway” because she resembles the character.

The film explores the themes of death, love, creativity, and sexuality, as well as the role of women in different eras. The film also features a musical score by Philip Glass, which adds to the emotional impact of the film.

The movie will be screened in the Community Room.

Director: Stephen Daldry

Runtime: 114 minutes

Time: 2:00-4:30 pm EST

Free!