Film Analysis: The Hour

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Recommended: American dream in literature

Since I don't know how to make a timeline, I figured i would just write a review and compare and contrast. After viewing the film The Hours via Netflix, I can safely say that this has become one of my new favorite movies, and not just because Meryl Streep is in it! The film the Hours focuses on three different women, all in three different time periods, but all in just one day. An effective way, in my opinion, to showchase just how influential change can be.

The character of Laura, played by Julianne Moore, is a pregnant woman who is clearly very unhappy in her marriage. Her segment takes place in the 1950's, in the aftermath of World War II. In the 50's, the average household was expected to live "the American dream." In other words, your home and your lifestyle reflect sucess through hard work. Back in those days, everyone was expected to have a nice husband or wife, be happily married, have a decent house and job, and have necessities like a television, fridge, etc. Materials and objects reflected the level of achievement attained through hard work. Laura is unhappy in her marriage to her husband, is pregnant, and checks into a hotel, wanting to kill herself. She reads Mrs. Dalloway and falls asleep while reading it. She wakes up and changes her mind and decides to live, for the sake of their child. This reflected that while she as well as other women in general may have been unhappy with the conventional "american dream," they endured for the sake of their families and not wanting to disrupt their seemingly picture perfect family lives.

Virginia Woolf, played by Nicole Kidman, lived in the 1920's as a writer. This movie really showcased Mrs. Woolf's struggles as a female author as she works on her book Mrs. Dalloway, and covered everything from her bipolar mood disorders to her nervous breakdowns, to the struggles she had with her husband. Throughout her segments in the movie, she struggles with the notion of contemplating suicide. Her husband, whom she loves very much, and vice versa, is concerned for her mental and physical health, and manages his own company in the comfort of their own home in order to be with Virginia and keep a close, watchful eye on her for any sign of changes in behavior or mood swings. She commited suicided in 1941 by drowning herself when she was only 59.

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