Clarissa Vaughan, played by Meryl Streep, is the editor of a modern-day publishing house in New York. She is throwing a party to celebrate a literary prize awarded to her former lover, a gay poet and novelist, who is slowly dying of Aids. Partly because of her first name, he has nicknamed her Mrs Dalloway.

The women are searching for more potent, meaningful existences. They grapple with the same inner doubts; every glance and gesture indicative of suppressed desperation and innate turmoil. Their stories intermingle (for instance, all three are shown breaking eggs against mixing bowls), their lives eventually coming together in one intensely moving climax.

The Hours isn?t a film for children, or for those seeking light entertainment. There are no gun battles, fast cars or quick-laugh gags, rather silence, yearning and transmigration. It is a work that demands, and rewards, your complete attention. Indeed, it is probably best described as a thinking woman?s film. However, if your intellect is stimulated by experimental, literary, stream-of-consciousness cinema, then this daringly unconventional film may be for you.

About the Author

Paula is a freelance writer and the editor of All Info-About Poetry http://poetry.allinfo-about.com and All Info About English Culture http://englishculture.allinfoabout.com. You can drop her a line at paula-bardell@freelance-worker.com.