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The Hours

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In Richmond, England in 1923, Virginia Woolf is setting out to write the first words of her new book. In Los Angeles in 1951, a housewife, Laura Brown, is contemplating suicide. And in present-day New York, a hostess, Clarissa Vaughan, is planning a party for her friends. In extraordinary and ingenious ways, the film shows how a single day - and the novel Mrs Dalloway - inextricably link the lives of three very different women.

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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david-hare

3 books1 follower

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5 stars
74 (59%)
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38 (30%)
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10 (8%)
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
229 reviews119 followers
July 12, 2017
چه مسخره سانسور شده بود. به جای اینکه بگه همدیگرو بوسیدند، نوشته "هردو مسلط و راسخ به هم نگاه می کنند". :-)))))))))
Profile Image for Anisha Inkspill.
500 reviews60 followers
November 29, 2024
I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would, though the first several times I watched the movie I was engrossed.

Michael Cunningham’s novel reads like a homage to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, but I found David Hare’s screenplay is more about the struggles of choosing to live or die. In David Hare’s screenplay the story was not just about Virginia Woolf but about the three women whose lives will become intertwined.

Maybe I didn’t like this as much, because reading the novel changed how I saw the movie.

But it was still worth reading, it’s just different, and I am sure I will watch the movie many more times.
Profile Image for Courtney Nolen.
15 reviews
October 5, 2016
Jus beautiful in every possible way. Read it in an afternoon it was so delicious
Profile Image for Alyssa Bond.
70 reviews2 followers
June 27, 2023
Well I read this in a day. Thank you insomnia. Three stories going on in this book that may seem like a lot going on but it works well.
Profile Image for Realini Ionescu.
4,101 reviews19 followers
August 13, 2025
The Hours, based on the Man Booker Prize winner by Michael Cunningham
10 out of 10


Just as the original material is one of the best books in recent years, the film The Hours is one of the best motion pictures of the past decades.

It was nominated for a series of Oscars, including the most relevant ones for Best Film, Director, Writing, Supporting Actor and Actress and it won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Nicole Kidman.
The Hours took the Golden Globe for the same artist and for Best Drama, BAFTAs and many other prizes.

There are three separate and yet intertwined stories, of Virginia Woolf aka Nicole Kidman, Laura Brown aka Julianne Moore and Clarissa Vaughan aka Meryl Streep.

Virginia Woolf is struggling with her depression - I have recently read Any Human Heart, by the fabulous William Boyd, and in this extraordinary novel, Mrs. Woolf is depicted as a racist, rather obnoxious, negative, unlikeable creature.
The writer receives the visit of her sister, Vanessa Bell aka Miranda Richardson, and her noisy children, that find a fallen bird that would soon expire and will be buried with a flower, in the garden.

Virginia Woolf seems to have a permanent conflict with her servant, that does not like the idea of traveling to London, to get what her master wants for the visit of the sister and her children.
Absent during the talk, the author decides not to kill the main character of her novel, Mrs. Dalloway.

Nevertheless, Laura Brown, a woman who lives in America, in the fifties, is determined to commit suicide, inspired to some extent by the reading of Mrs. Dalloway and the inadequacies of her life, the marriage to a man who seems so alien to her, Dan Brown aka John C. Reilly.
Mrs. Brown is visited by her neighbor, Kitty aka Tony Collette, who may have a tumor in her womb and wants so much to live and have children, while the depressed Laura is about to kill herself, maybe.

The two woman kiss in an outre moment, then Laura Brown takes a room in a hotel, where she has taken her pills and maybe these will be her final Hours.

The third story takes place recently, in New York, where Clarissa Vaughan aka Meryl Streep is organizing a party for her friend, Richard Brown aka Ed Harris, who has won the most important poetry prize.
Alas, he is dying of AIDS, sardonically, he claims this is the reason they declared him the winner, and he is unstable, suffers from memory loss, changes of moods and depression, to name just a few afflictions.

Clarissa is a lesbian living with Sally Lester aka Allison Janney - I happened to see a show where this excellent artist talked about the making of The Hours and how Cardinal the work with Meryl Streep has been.
Meryl Streep has told Allison Janney that she has some advice and in the scene in which they kiss, she pulled the skin from the face of her partner, with a very good effect.

The Hours is not just formidable, it is outstanding, glorious, phenomenal and a pleasure to watch again...
It was scheduled on one of the many film channels we have now - Alhamdulillah! - and it is probably the third time that I have enjoyed this Masterpiece.
Posted 13th March 2019 by realini
Profile Image for Mora Lee.
16 reviews4 followers
September 12, 2009
Brilliant. Surprisingly unique adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel. Hard to believe that two male writers understand the woman's mind so well, and the intricacies of a woman's life regarding timeless controvercial issues.
Profile Image for Kellista.
Author 1 book5 followers
December 27, 2008
Just as amazing as the book and movie. Obviously they differ but if you enjoy one and appreciate analyzing their differences, strengths and weaknesses, then you'll enjoy this script.
Profile Image for Delshad.
5 reviews1 follower
December 14, 2018
دوستش نداشتم.حقیقتا جانم در اومد تا تمومش کردم.دوستش داشتید!نداشتم
Profile Image for Steven.
958 reviews8 followers
December 23, 2019
Amazing screenplay adaptation of my favourite book. David Hare took a very challenging book created a visual and dialogue script with grace, emotion and compelling characters. A true gem.
Profile Image for Curran.
105 reviews3 followers
January 28, 2025
"SALLY I THINK I'LL BUY THE FLOWERS MYSELF!"

*Cracks eggs and crumbles to the kitchen floor like Meryl Streep*

This script is a work of art.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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