The [two] Hours [of film]

“Leonard, always the years between us, always the years, always the love, always the hours”

The Hours was definitely a very emotional and impressive work of film. Actually, before I even knew that we were going to watch this movie in class, I had heard of this movie and read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia and everything. However, even that was still not enough to prepare me what was to come. I knew that Richard was Laura’s son and that he was going to die, but actually watching the scene was so difficult to bear. The creators of this movie, which is actually based off the book The Hours, stayed true to Mrs. Dalloway despite some differences in the story. All the characters’ personalities and symbols are still present, but just in different places.  For instance, Clarissa is actually partners with Sally rather than Richard, but she still enjoys parties. Also, when she visits Movie Richard, she takes the characteristic of Book Richard by separating the flowers she brings him between the white ones and the red ones. Plus, while there is no Septimus in the movie, his presence still thrives in the movie, as Richard is sort of crazy with voices in his head that lead to his suicide out of a window. The theme of time was still overwhelming in the movie from the very beginning to the very end. At the beginning, the clocks and alarms chiming bring all three characters away from their dreams and snap them back to reality. Near the end, there is a clock when Virginia and Laura go to bed, sort of like their death bed, perhaps? Also, just something I thought was absolutely clever in the film is that when Virginia talks to Leonard, she says that “the poet must die” and Richard is a poet and so is she. Also, Movie Richard jumped out of a window, and the first time Virginia tried to kill herself, she jumped out of a window. So basically, Virginia Woolf is Book Septimus and Movie Richard. People are such geniuses in creating literature! I can’t even.

Another connection between Virginia Woolf and Richard: They are both sitting and next to windows #twins