In competition - The Hours

by Camillo De Marco

09/02/2003 - Accompanied by Nicole Kidman, the British director presents his long awaited film based on Michael Cunningham's eponymous novel about three women in the 20th century

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An immense respect for women and the challenges they faced through the turbulent times of the twentieth century is the essence of The Hours, directed by England’s Stephen Daldry, and screened in competition in Berlin.
The Hours is based on the eponymous novel by Michael Cunningham who drew inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s classic, “Mrs Dalloway”. Daldry’s film is a composite of one day in the lives of three women, from different eras, whose lives are linked by the invisible thread of the character that Woolf created. It would be difficult to find a better cast - Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman – for this tale of three women's heroism in their everyday lives. The Hours is a film about “women who dare to stand by the choices they make”.
Daldry, whose 2000 directorial feature debut, Billy Elliott, was a worldwide success, is a product of British theatre. That is why he insisted on rehearsal in the pre-production phase of The Hours. “It was difficult for me to envisage the scenes without exploring them first. That was the only way I could work on what drives these characters from the inside, and bring to the screen the inner world of the book. Fortunately I worked side by side with David Hare, the writer, who tweaked the script after observing the actors in action.”
“I was extremely lucky to work with these actors,” continues Daldry, “and I don’t just mean Meryl, Julianne and Nicole but the whole cast, many of whom also come from the theatre." Nicole Kidman is unrecognisable: she subjected herself to extenuating sessions in the make-up department and presents a very credible resemblance to Virginia Woolf. The actress, who accompanied her director to Berlin, said: “This role came along when I needed to play her. Virginia Woolf was a woman focused on and surrounded by death, madness and love. I have always been fascinated by the depth with which she managed to encapsulate the pathos of life.”