Next in Janus’ long, hopefully never-ending line of theatrical restorations is Grey Gardens, a picture many would consider one of the very best documentaries ever produced. The combined efforts of Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer brought to light the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale, a pair who, along with being Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ respective aunt and first cousin, were known as occupants of East Hampton’s notoriously derelict Grey Gardens Estate.
And now, in conjunction with Criterion’s semi-recent Blu-ray reissue, there’s a digital restoration produced by the company and the Academy Film Archive. A new trailer will reintroduce the familiar and provide context for the uninitiated, which makes it more or less ideal in such a situation, and though you might prefer to pick up the Blu-ray, it looks to be a beautiful experience on the big screen, captured in all its grit and glory.
Watch the preview (via Apple) and the previous version below:
Synopsis:
Meet Big and Little Edie Beale: mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, and reclusive cousins of Jackie Onassis. The two manage to thrive together amid the decay and disorder of their East Hampton, New York, mansion, making for an eerily ramshackle echo of the American Camelot. An impossibly intimate portrait, this 1976 documentary by Albert and David Maysles, codirected by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, quickly became a cult classic and established Little Edie as a fashion icon and philosopher queen.
Grey Gardens will return to theaters on March 6.
Have you seen the original film? Would you like to catch the restoration?