外国电影《时时刻刻》 (THE HOURS) PPT

Michael Cunningham（迈克尔·坎宁安）Michael Cunningham (born November 6,1952) is an award-winning American writer, best known for his 1998 novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize （普利策奖）for Fiction in 1999. Here are the details:1. Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in California. He studied English literature at Stanford University where he earned his degree. Later at the University of Iowa he received a Michener Fellowship and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. While studying at Iowa, he had short stories published in the Atlantic Monthly and the Paris Review. His story "White Angel," from his novel A Home at the End of the World was included in "The Best American Short Stories, 1989“.2. In 1995 he w as awarded the Whiting Writers’ Award. Cunningham teaches at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts and in the creative writing MFA program at Brooklyn College.3. Although Cunningham is gay and has been in a monogamous partnership for 18 years with psychoanalyst and artist Ken Corbett, he dislikes being referred to as only a “gay writer", because while being gay does greatly influence his work, he feels that it is not (and should not be) his defining characteristic.The Hours 《时时刻刻》1. In The Hours, Michael Cunningham draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and desire. The narrative of Woolf last days before her suicide early in World War Two counterpoints the fictional stories of Samuel, a famous poet whose life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother, and his lifelong friend Clarissa, who strives to forge a balanced and rewarding life in spite of the demands of friends, lovers and family.2. The film adaptation of The Hours premiered in December 2003. Directed by Stephen Daldry, with the screenplay by David Hare, starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, The Hours was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The film was also nominated for seven Golden Globes and won for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama.Virginia Woolf (弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙)Virginia Woolf (1882~1941) was an English novelist and essayist, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (《达洛卫夫人》) (1925), To the Lighthouse (《到灯塔去》) (1927) and Orlando (《奥兰多》) (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One’s Own (《一间自己的房间》) (1929), with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Here are the details:1.1 Early life1. Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen in London in 1882. Her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, was a notable author, critic and mountaineer. Her mother, Julia Prinsep Stephen, wasborn in India and later moved to England with her mother. The young Virginia was educated by her parents in their literate and well-connected household. Her parents had each been married previously and been widowed, and, consequently, the household contained the children of three marriages. Julia had three children from her first husband, Herbert Duckworth: George Duckworth, Stella Duckworth, and Gerald Duckworth. Leslie had one daughter from his first wife, Minny Thackeray: Laura Makepeace Stephen, who was declared mentally disabled and lived with the family until she was institutionalised in 1891. Leslie and Julia had four children together: Vanessa Stephen, Thoby Stephen, Virginia, and Adrian Stephen.2. Sir Leslie Stephen's eminence as an editor, critic, and biographer, and his connection to William Thackeray (he was the widower of Thackeray's youngest daughter), meant that his children were raised in an environment filled with the influences of Victorian literary society.3. According to Woolf's memoirs, her most vivid childhood memories, however, were not of London but of St Ives in Cornwall, where the family spent every summer until 1895. Memories of these family holidays and impressions of the landscape, especially the Godrevy Lighthouse, informed the fiction Woolf wrote in later years, most notably To the Lighthouse.4. The sudden death of her mother in 1895, when Virginia was 13, and that of her half sister Stella two years later, led to the first of Virginia's several nervous breakdowns. The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming collapse and she was briefly institutionalised.5. Her breakdowns and subsequent recurring depressive periods, modern scholars (including her nephew and biographer) have claimed were also induced by the sexual abuse she and Vanessa were subjected to by their half-brothers George and Gerald (which Woolf recalls in her autobiographical essays ).6. Throughout her life, Woolf was plagued by drastic mood swings. Though this instability greatly affected her social functioning, her literary abilities remained intact. Modern diagnostic techniques have led to a posthumous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, an illness which coloured her work, relationships, and life, and eventually led to her suicide.1.2 Bloomsbury1. After the death of their father and Virginia's second nervous breakdown, Virginia, Vanessa, and Adrian sold 22 Hyde Park Gate and bought a house at 46 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury.2. Following studies at King’s Colle ge London, Woolf came to know Lytton Strachey, Clive Bell, Saxon Sydney-Turner, Duncan Grant, and Leonard Woolf, who together formed the nucleus of the intellectual circle known as the Bloomsbury Group.3.Virginia Stephen married writer Leonard Woolf in 1912, referring to him during their engagement as a "penniless Jew." The couple shared a close bond.4. In 1922, Virginia met the writer and gardener Vita Sackville -West, wife of Harold Nicolson. After a tentative start, they began a sexual relationship that lasted through most of the 1920s. In 1928, Woolf presented Sackville-West with Orlando, a fantastical biography in which the hero's life spans three centuries and both genders. It has been called by Nigel Nicolson, Vita Sackville-West's son, “the longest and most charming love letter in literature.” After their affair ended, the two women remained friends until Woolf's death in 1941. Virginia Woolf also remained close to her surviving siblings, Adrian and Vanessa; Thoby had died of an illness at the age of 26.1.3 DeathAfter completing the manuscript of her last (posthumously published) novel, Between the Acts, Woolf fell victim to a depression similar to that which she had earlier experienced. The onset ofWorld War Two, the destruction of her London homes during the Blitz, and the cool reception given to her biography of her late friend all worsened her condition until she was unable to work. On 28 March 1941, Woolf committed suicide. She put on her overcoat, filled its pockets with stones, then walked into the river near her home and drowned herself. Woolf's body was not found until 18 April. Her husband buried her cremated remains under a tree in the garden of their house. In her last note to her husband she wrote:“I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier 'til this terrible disease came. I can't fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that —everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been. ”Mrs. Dalloway 《达洛卫夫人》Mrs Dalloway (published on 1925) is a novel by Virginia Woolf that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in post-World War One England. Mrs. Dalloway continues to be one of Woolf's best-known novels.The novel's story is of Clarissa's preparations for a party of which she is to be hostess. With the interior perspective of the novel, the story travels forwards and back in time, and in and out of the characters' minds, to construct a complete image of Clarissa's life and of the inter-war social structure.Plot Summary1. Clarissa Dalloway goes around London in the morning, getting ready to host a party that evening. The nice day reminds her of her youth at Bourton and makes her wonder about her choice of husband -- she married the reliable Richard Dalloway instead of Peter Walsh. Peter himself complicates her thoughts by paying a visit, having returned from India that day.2. Septimus Smith, a veteran of World War One , spends his day in the park with his wife Lucrezia. He suffers from constant and indecipherable hallucinations. He commits suicide by jumping out ofa window.3. Clarissa's party in the evening is a slow success. It is attended by most of the characters she has met in the book, including people from her past. She hears about Septimus' suicide at the party, and gradually comes to admire the act -- which she considers an effort to preserve the purity of his own happiness.。

B. comparison between three women1. They are not free,Virginia Woolf is confined by her husband’s love. She is suffocated by her husband’s care so that she is surrounded by doctors everyday and loses freedom. She can’t find her position in her family and is scared of her servants;Laura Brown is confined by boring family life and husband’s love. She is just like a bird in birdcage. Her only duty is to give birth to babies and serve husband. Though she has a husband who loves her and a brilliant son, she thinks that this is not what she wants, just as what she has said in the film:” she would buy flowers by herself”, which shows that she is eager to be free.; Clarissa V aughan is confined by loneliness. Just as her talks to Richard, Richard asks her:”Wou ld you be angry if I died? I think I’m only staying alive to satisfy you.” She said:” So that is what we do. That’s what people do. They stay alive for each other.”She is so lonely that she puts herself in shackles of relying on Richard spiritually. She also can’t break away from the thought of traditional discriminated views about homosexuality so she don’t dare to face up her love to Sally 2. They all get out of the bottleneck of life and rouse the sense of self-realization by three visitors . During her sister’s visit, her little cousin who is like an angel who makes her think about the character’s destiny in her novel and her own destiny. Especially when she and the little girl do a burial to a dead bird, she thinks that death means to return to where one has come from, which influences her choice in the future completely. Woolf chooses death after the cruel and reasonable thinking;After her neighbor kitty’s visit, Laura makes a hard decision to suicide. Though she is deeply influenced by words in novel (it is possible to die), her sense of responsibility makes her come back home, give birth to the baby and then leaves home.Clarissa gets away from many years of shackles brought by Richard and chooses her new happy life after Louis Waters’visit to the party, who has gay relationships with Richard once and discards him afterwards, just like Richard throws over clarissa. This man makes her feel that what she has done to Richard are not worthy at all and her reliance on Richard doesn’t make her happy, which result in her change of views about life afterwards.3. Their life attitudes are different; Woolf and Laura are pessimistic about life.For woolf, the world is like a prisoner’s cage, she can’t find freedom and happiness in real life, and she can only imagine freedom in her mind. She thinks that only death can bring emancipations. As what she has said: “To look life in the face, to know it for what it is. At last, to know it, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away.” From her point of view, death is just another way of loving and enjoying life. She also said that:”The poet will die, the visionary.”She lives in a visionary world, which is contradictory to the world, so the only way to get away from the contradiction is to die. Her last words to her husband is like that“I can't go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.” So she thinks that they can be happy by her death.For Laura, she is pessimistic bout being a housewife. She makes a hard choice between life and death and decides to live and run away from family that traps her.Clarissa is optimistic and strong in will. She has lost her confidence and positive spirit for a while by Richard’s unthankful attitudes to her help and Richard’s death, but is encouraged by her daughter’s positive encouragement and Laura’s love to her.4. Difference inside of heart.Another difference that I want to say is that Clarissa is strong on her face, in her deep heart, she is lonely and armed with the help of her daughter and work. Richard represent her dream in youth, so she rely on Richard in spiritWhile on the contrary, it seems that Laura is more pessisimic and usually in tears, but her spirit is independent. She seeks for liberation bravely and fights aloneC. Three suicides1. Woolf suffers severely from her depression which is a great burden to her husband. She chooses death to be she and return to the place where she comes from. She thinks that death is the only way for her to be free2. Laura feel despaired for the dull life and she is influenced by the novel and wants to suicide to end all the dullness. After all, she has more right to make her own decisions than wooolf. So she realizes that she can be alive and choose to run away.3. Richard feels that his life is meaningless after he has ads, but he lives for Clarissa though she has no responsibility for him. Clarissa’s controls and help to him make him feel despaired because it is not what he want. He chooses death to let Clarissa begins her own new life, at the same time to complete himself.D. the relationship between heroines and the novelTwo Dalloway are similar, but there are also some diffrence:Suic ides come into their c alm life. In the book, Mrs. Dallow ay hears of Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of World War I who suffers from deferred traumatic stress and suicides. In the film, Mrs. Dallow ay w itness Ric hard jumping out of w indow.Two Mrs. Dallow ay has similar events in a day. They are both holding a party.Two women are both optimistic and like social activitiesBoth shows change of thought and emotions in a dayBoth reflect women’s right.Difference:Different values: book character is a successful housewife, though she used to have the dream of being free, she accepts reality to be a housewife. Film character is a new professional woman who is free to make choicesBook character distinguishes dream and reality clearly. She knows which one is suitable to be a lover and which one is suitable to be a husband. Film character can’t make a difference between dream and reality. She buries herself into the first love dreams, relies on Richard spiritually, without realizing that the man she used to love has dead.E. the theme1. Death.The film makes people think about death.It doesn’t criticize those suicides. Death is another choice. People have different attitudes and hopes to life. Every hour of our life is closer to death. There are many ways of dying. Some people choose to suicide, some people may die in accidents; some people may die from diseases. For the suicides like woolf and Richard, they think death can lead to happiness so they choose it bravely, which is better than those people who loses hope but still lives as a useless person.“To look life in the face, to know it for what it is. At last, to know it, to love it for what it is,and then, to put it away.” This sentence shows the theme of death very well. Different people may have different views about this sentence. I think it means that one should live positively, love life wholeheartedly so that they can die without regrets2. Life attitudesa. Though the atmosphere of the film is depressive, the depression becomes weaker and weaker. When clarissa shows up in the film, the depression turn to warm feelings. Through clarissa, the film shows a positive view about life.The film makes people think about their values and encourage people to live a meaningful life.It values freedom. Life is dear, love is dearer. Both can be given up for freedom.生命诚可贵，爱情价更高，若为自由故，两者皆可抛。

第30卷 第3期 牡丹江大学学报 Vol.30 No.3 2021年3月 Journal of Mudanjiang University Mar. 2021 文章编号:1008-8717（2021）03-0057-05醒悟，抑或是困顿——《时时刻刻》中弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫之双面人生解读贺毅娜（淮阴工学院外国语学院，江苏　淮安　223001）摘 要:电影《时时刻刻》以弗吉尼亚的意识流小说《达洛维夫人》（Mrs.Dalloway）为线索，巧妙运用蒙太奇的电影手段和非线性的叙事方式，跨越时空，讲述了弗吉尼亚、劳拉及克拉丽莎三位女性人生中一天的故事，是一部非常成功的女性主义题材影片。

本文通过对游离于现实生活与小说创作之间的弗吉尼亚的双重生活状态进行论述，活灵活现地展现出三位女性因所处时代不同而经历了不同的境遇，进而以更深的笔触揭示和披露了当代西方社会中女性的生存困境和面临的文化、精神困顿。

关键词:双面人生；女性主义；精神危机中图分类号：I106 文献标识码:AAwakened or Fatigued-The Double——Faced Life Interpretation of Virginia Woolf in The HoursHE Yi-na（School of Foreign Language,Huaiyin Institute of Technology,Huai’an Jiangsu　223001）Abstract: The movie The Hours is based on Virginia Woolf’s Stream of consciousness novel-Mrs. Dalloway.It is a very successful feminist film, telling the story of one day in the life of Virginia, Laura and Clarissa across time and space with the ingenious use of montage and non-linear narrative.This paper discusses Virginia's dual life state, which is separated between real life and novel creation,It vividly shows the different situations experienced by the three women due to their different times.Then it reveals the survival dilemma,cultural and spiritual difficulties faced by women in the contemporary Western society with a deeper touch.Key words: Double-faced Life;Feminism;Spiritual crisis收稿日期:基金项目:作者简介:2020-10-152020年江苏省教育厅高校哲学社会科学研究一般项目“基于云课堂的大学英语‘线上线下’混合式教学模式研究”（项目编号：2020SJA1805）贺毅娜（1981-），女，陕西西安人，淮阴工学院外国语学院讲师，硕士,主要研究方向：教学法，英语语言文学。

谈美--赏析电影《时时刻刻》（江海媚 11级思教2班 20110301047）近些日子，生活混沌般凌乱，一直走在隧道里，可是不见了引领在前的光，我一时心慌意乱。

碰巧在某次上课时，老师讲到贵族群体更多用思想和心灵生活时，看到PPT上那个美丽的女人—弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙，她深邃的眼神和精致的五官，瞬时把我迷住了。

第一时间展开微博搜索，发现了一句她说的类似心灵鸡汤的话，“人不应该是插在花瓶里供人观赏的静物，而是蔓延在草原上随风起舞的韵律，生命不是安排，而是追求，人的意义也许永远没有答案，但也要尽情感受这种没有答案的人生。

”看完就无意识地做了她的“脑残粉”，想象着她对生命的追求，“应该可以从她身上找到答案的”。

课后回来的第一件事就是观看老师推荐的电影《时时刻刻》，听说是模仿她的自传而创作的电影。

电影结构：跨越时空的谋合与约见《时时刻刻》，是迈克尔·坎宁安同名小说the hours 的电影改版，运用平行蒙太奇手法讲述不同时空下三个女人一天的故事。

电影的套层时空结构采用复调式叙述，包括三个子故事，以一个子故事为结构的主线，巧妙地借用一些重复元素引出另外两条线。

一个是1923年居住在伦敦郊区的女作家弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙，她神经衰弱，饱受精神摧残，一边在郊区“休养”一边创作《戴洛维夫人》。

这天姐姐凡妮莎过来探访她，陪了她一个下午。

另一个是1949生活在洛杉矶的《戴洛维夫人》的读者劳拉·布朗，今天是她丈夫的生日，和儿子一起为丈夫做了个蛋糕，好友意外造访，她思想上有了变动，在好友走后倒掉蛋糕送走了儿子，在一间旅馆里试图自杀，最后或许是她身上的未生婴儿让她放弃了念头，回到家为丈夫准备生日晚宴。

还有一个是经历着“戴洛维夫人”角色的克莱丽莎，2001年在纽约的女编辑，这天她为庆祝前男友理查德获得一项文学奖项，早早地买花准备举办派对，然而理查德常年身患艾滋病、处于精神崩溃边缘，他并不想参加派对，最后当着克莱丽莎的面跳窗而下结束了自己的生命。

"T H E H O U R S"Dearest,I feel certain, that I'm going mad again.I think we can't go through another of these terrible timesand I shan't recover this time.I begin to hear voicesand can't concentrate.So I'm doing what seems the best thing to do.You have given me the greatest possible happiness.You have been in every way all that anyone could be.I know that I'm spoiling your lifeand without me you could workand you will.I know.You see I can't even write this properly.What I want to say is that I owe all the happiness of my life to you.You have been entirely patient with meand incredibly good.Everything is gone for me,but the certainty of your goodness.I can't go on spoiling your life any longer.I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.Virginia."T H E H O U R S"Morning, doctor! -Mr. Woolf.A little worse, I think. -I see.My thing is to keep her where she is.Good morning, Leonard.Good morning, Virginia.How was your sleep?Uneventful.Headaches? - No, no headaches.Doctor seemed pleased.It's all from this morning? -Yes.This young man has submitted his manuscript.I found three errors of fact and two spelling mistakes and I'm not yet on page four.Had breakfast?Yes.Liar.Virginia, it's not my insistence but the doctor's.I'd better send Nelly up with some fruit in the parlour.Right... lunch then.Proper lunch, husband and wife sitting down together...soup... pudding and all.By force if necessary.Leonard, I believe I may have the first sentence.Work then.Then you must eat.Mrs. Dalloway saidshe would buy the flowers herself.Mrs. Dalloway said that she would buy the flowers herself.Sally, I think I'll buy the flowers myself.What?What flowers?Shit!You're never gonna be a big boy if you don't eat your breakfast.You're gonna be the big brother - it's a very important job.Happy birthday.Good morning, honey.Oh, Dan!Roses on your own birthday - too much, really...Hope he'll eat it now you're here.It is your birthday, you shouldn't be up buying me flowers.Well, you were still sleeping - So...We decided it would be better if we let you to sleep a little, didn't we? Good morning, Bug.You need to rest, Laura. You're only 4 months away.Don't, I'm fine... just tired.I was telling him he's got to eat his breakfast!That's true.So, it's a beautiful day!What are you two going to do?We've got our plans, don't we?What plans?Well, it wouldn't be much of a party,if I told you every detail in advance?I'd better stop asking questions, ahah?!.Look, the time - I'd better get going.Have a good day.You too!Dan, happy birthday.Thank you.You need to finish your breakfast.Well, I'm gonna make a cake.That's what I'm gonna do.I'm gonna make a cake for daddy's birthday.Mommy, can I help?Can I help make the cake?Of course you can, sweetie.I'm not gonna do anything without you.No, of course, you have to come.Of course.Well, I always wanted you... And everybody involved in the ceremony.I don't know it. Around sixty?Well...it will...it'll mean so much.The whole occasion.It's the least I can do - have a nice dinner and say thanks to everybody. You have made so much for him.Oh, take that as a "yes".He'll be thrilled! -Oh, my god!I'm thrilled, oh, good! - What if nobody comes?This is Clarissa Vaughan.Yes, I'm just confirming that you are sending a car to pick up me first. Hi, Clarissa! -Hi, hi, Brenda!And then going over to 679 Hudson at 9:40.Then you will take me uptown and you will wait for us...It'll be over at 7 o'clock.Oh, flowers!What a beautiful morning.Hello, Clarissa.How are you?I'm having a party.My friend Richard has won the "Corroders".Wow, that's just terrific!if I knew what it was...It is a poetry prize...for a life's work.It's the most prestigious.For a poet, it's the best you can do.Oh, very good. So, what do you like? The lilies are perfect.No, too morbid.Hydrangeas, I think.And...oh, oh, let's just have buckets of roses! And...I think I'm gonna take these with me.Rodney.Thank you.I actually tried to read Richard's novel...You did?Oh, I know.It is not easy.I know. It did take him ten years to write.Maybe just takes another ten to read.It's you isn't it?In the novel. Isn't it meant to be you?Oh, I see!Yeah, sort of.I mean...in a way.Richard's a writer that's what he is...He uses things which actually happened. - Yeah... And years ago he and I were students, that's true. But, you know, then he changes things. -Oh, sure!I don't mean in a bad way.It's more like...he makes them his own.A woman's whole life...in a single day.Just one day.And in that day...her whole life.This is what we need, shortening.Mrs. Dalloway.It's you! -Yes.It's me! It's me!Come in.Oh, Richard, is a beautiful morning!We should let in a little more light.Is it still morning?Yes, it is.Have I died?Good morning, my dear.Any visitors?Yes.Are they still here?No, they've gone.How do they look? -Today?Sort of like black fire.Sort of light and dark at the same time.There was one that was as an electrified jellyfish.It was singing.May have been Greek.So, the ceremony is at 5.Do you remember?And then...the party is right after.They did bring you breakfast, didn't they?What a question...of course.Richard, you did eat it?Well, can you see it?Is it here?Do you see breakfast lying around?No, I don't see it.Well, then I must have eaten it, mustn't I?I suppose.Does it matter?Of course it matters.You know what the doctors say.Have you been skipping pills?Of course, I can't take this.Take what?To be proud and brave...in front of everybody.Honey, it's not a performance.Of course it is! I got the prize for my performance.That is nonsense.I got the prize for having AIDS and going nuts...and being brave about it!I actually got the prize for having come through! -It's not true. For surviving! -It's not true!That's what I won it for!Do you think they would have given it to me if I were healthy?! Yes, as a matter of fact I do!Is it here somewhere?What?The prize?I'd like to look at it.No, you haven't gotten it yet.It is tonight.Are you sure?I remember the ceremony perfectly.I seem to have fallen out of time.Richard.Richard.It is a party.It's only a party.Populated entirely with people who respect and admire you. Ha, small party, is it?Select party, is it?Your friends.I thought I lost all my friends.I thought I drove my friends crazy.Jesus. -Oh, Mrs. Dalloway...... always giving parties...to cover the silence.Richard...you won't need to do anything - all you have to do is appear... sit on the sofa.And I will be there.This is a group of peoplewho wanna tell you your work is going to live.Will it be this way?Is my work going to live?I can't go through all this.Why do you say that?I can't!Why?Because I wanted to be a writer, that's all.And?I wanted to write about it all.Everything that happens in a moment.The way the flowers look when you carry them in your arms. This towel - how it smells, how it feels...it's thread.All our feelings - yours and mine.The history of it.Who we once were.Everything in the world.Everything mixed up.Like it's all mixed up now.And I failed.I failed.No matter what you start up with, it ends up being so much less. Sheer fucking pride!And stupidity.We want everything, don't we?I suppose we do.You kissed me on a beach.Yeah.Do you remember?How many years ago.Of course I do.What did you wantCome closer.I'm right here.Come closer. Would you please?Take my hand.Would you be angry...Would I be angry if you didn't show up at the party?Would you be angry if I died?If you died?Who is this party for?What do you mean who is it for?Why are you asking? What are you trying to say?I am not trying to say anything.I'm saying I think I'm only staying alive to satisfy you.So that is it we do.That is what people do - they stay alive for each other.The doctors told you - you don't need to die.They told you. You can live this for years.Well, exactly!I don't accept this.I don't accept what you say.Oh, and it is for you to decide, is it?How long have you been doing that?How many years...cleaning for the apartment...What about your own life?What about Sally?Just wait till I die,and you'll have to think of yourself.How are you going to like that?Richard...it would be great if you did come to the party,if you felt well enough to come.Just to let you know that I am making the crab thingnot that I imagine it makes any difference to you.Of course it makes a difference, I love the crab thing.Clarissa.Yes...I'll be back at 3:30and will help you get dressed.Wonderful!Three thirty.Wonderful.It's on this day,this day of all days,her fate becomes clear to her.Excuse me, Mrs. Woolf.Mr. Woolf said I was to come and speak with you.Nearly finished, Nelly. Wait for me in the kitchen. I'll be done very soon. What happens isshe says she wants something then it turns out she doesn't!Well, she never does, does she?She never wants anything!But when she wants something in particular...it's a sure sign.I wish I've been thereI wish I had tone!If you give that look!I said "madam"Yes, Nelly, tell me. How can I help?It's about lunch.I just had to go ahead on my own.I understand.You chose a pie...I chose a lamb pie.That seems suitable.You being so busy with your writing...I'd no instructions.You do remember that my sister is comingat four with the children?Yes, Madam. I had not forgotten.China tea, I think.And ginger.Ginger, Madam...I'd like to give the children a treat.We'll have to go to London for ginger, Madam.I haven't finished this, and there's the rest of lunch to get ready.The 12:30 train, Nelly, will get you into London just after one,if you return on the 2.30, you should be back in Richmond soon after 3.Do I miscalculate?No!Well then, is something detaining you Nelly?I can't think of anything more exhilarating than a trip to London.Good morning, Mrs. Woolf.Good morning.We shall publish no more new authors.I have to tell you I've discovered ten errors in the first proof.Less bad than there are them opposing."Pasandale was a charn錶-house...from which no min return"!Do you think it's possible that bad writing actually attracts a higher incidence of error?If it's all right, I thought I might take a short walk.Not far?No, just over there.Go then.If I could walk mid-morning, I'd be a happy man.She'll die.She's going to die.That's what's going to happen.She'll kill herself.She'll kill herself over something which doesn't seem to matter.Let us think.You greased the pan, mommy.I know I greased the pan, sweetheart, even mommy knows that.This is what we're gonna do.Flour.Bowl.Sifter.Can I do it, mommy?Can I sift the flour?Yes, you can sift the flower,baby, if that's what makes you happy.Isn't it beautiful?Don't you think it looks like snow?OK. Now...the next thing...the next thing I'm gonna show youis to measure up the cuts.Mommy, it isn't that difficult.I know, I know it isn't difficult, it's just that I...just wanna do this for daddy.Because it's his birthday?That's right.Bake him the cake to show him that we love him. Otherwise he won't know we love him?That's right.I got all stuff!I'm going right out again.My God, what a zoo!Why do people have to talk about dry cleaning?What is it there to talk about?I bought you some flowers.Where are you?In here.I got someone at work to cover me. I'll be with you all night. Are you all right?Sure.I guess you saw Richard.That's right.Well, of course...I bet he said: "Oh, by the way, honey, can I skip the party?" Don't worry, he always shows up...Oh, sure!...in the end.What?Richard missing a chance to talk about his work?I don't think so. He'll show up.You did the seating?I did.I don't believe it - Louis Waters! Is Louis coming?!Richard's Louis?He is.You put him next to me...Why do I always have to sit next to the ex-es?Is it some kind of hint, sweetheart?Shouldn't the ex-es have table of their own,where they can all "ex" togetherI'm off.Try not to pass out from excitement.Clarissa, it's going to be beautiful.Thank you.You're welcome.Why is everything wrong?It didn't work!Damn it!It didn't work...Hi, Scott.Hi, Mrs. Barlow.Mommy, mommy, there's someone at the door!Hello?Laura?Hi, Laura, am I interrupting? -Of course not, come in.Are you all right?Why, sure!Hi, Richie!Sit down, I've got coffee on.Would you like some?Please.Oh, look, you made a cake!I know.Didn't work.I thought it was gonna work.I thought it would be better than that.Oh, Laura, I don't understand it why you find it so difficult!I don't know either.Everyone can make a cake - it's ridiculously easy.I bet you didn't grease the pan.I greased the pan.All right.You know, you have other virtues.And Dan loves you so much he won't even notice. Whatever you do, he's gonna say it's wonderful.Well, it's true!Does Ray have a birthday?Sure he does!When is it?September.We go to the country club.We always go to the country club.We drink martinis and spend the day with fifty people. Ray's got a lot of friends.Oh, he does...You both have a lot of friends.You are good at it.How is Ray? I haven't seen him in a while.Ray's fine.These guys are something, aren't they?Oh, yes, you can say that again.They came home from the war... They deserved it, didn't they?After all they've been through. -What...did they deserve?I don't I guess... all this.Oh, you are reading a book. - Yeah.What's this one about?Well, it'a about...This woman is incredibly... Well, she's a hostess, and she's incredibly confidentand she's going to give a party. And maybe because she's confident, everyone thinks she's fine...But she isn't.So?Kitty, what is it? Is there something wrong?I have to go to the hospital for a couple of days.Kitty...I have some kind of...ghost in my uterus and...we're gonna go in and take a look.When?This afternoon.I need you to feed the dog.Of course.Is that what you came here to ask?What did the doctors say exactly?That's probably what the trouble's beenwith not getting pregnant.The thing is...I mean, you know...I've been very happy with Ray.And now it turns out that there was a reason ...a reason I couldn't conceive.You are lucky, Laura.I don't think you can call yourself a woman until you're a mother.And the joke is...all my life I could do everything.I mean, could do anything, really.Except the one thing I wanted.Yes. -That's all.Oh, at least now you will be able to deal with it.That's right.That's what they're doing. - That's right... - I'm not worried.No, it is not in your hands.That's it...It's in the hands of some physician I've never even met!Some surgeon who probably drinks more martinis than Ray and... Oh, Kitty!God, I am so worried about Ray.Come here. - I'm doing fine, really.I know, I know you are.I'm more worried about Ray, if anything isn't that good with this stuff. Forget about Ray...just forget about Ray.You were sweet.You know the routine, right?You have the can in the evening... and check the water now and then... Ray'll feed him in the morning.Kitty, you didn't mind?What?I didn't mind what?Do you want me to drive you?I think I'll be better if I drive myself.Kitty, it's gonna be all right.Of course it is.Bye.What? What do you want?Mr. Woolf, Mrs. Bell has arrived!Not due till 4 o'clock.I can't help that...she is here!You are a perfect angel...Don't allow the boys make fun of you.Fly away.Virginia!Leonard thinks it's the end of civilization.people are invited at 4 ......and arrive at 2:30.Oh, God!Barbarians.Well, we finished lunch sooner than we imagined.I had to send to Nelly to London for sugar ginger.Oh, Virginia.You aren't so frightened of servants, are you?Come on!And how are you, sister?Frantic, it's been ridiculous in London.Ridiculous? How?Busy.Why is busy ridiculous?I would've invited you to our party, but...I knew you wouldn't come.Did you? How did you know that?I thought you never came to town.That's because you no longer ask me.Are you not forbidden to come?Do the doctors not forbid it?Oh, the doctors!Do you not pay heed to your doctors?Not when they are a bunch of contemptible Victorians! So, what do you say? Are you feeling better?Has this fastness made you stronger?I'm saying, Vanessa, that even crazy people like to be asked. Nessa, Nessa, Nessa...Hello cherubs.What have you got?What have you found? - We found a bird.Did you? Where did you find that?I think he must have fallen from a tree.Oh my Goodness! Just look at him.We might be able to save him.Save him?I think you have to be careful, Quentin.There's a time to die, and it may be the bird's time...Let's pick some grass to make a grave.Oh, Julian!I'm just saying, he at least needs a bed to die on.Come on, Nessa, let's make a grave!Nessa, come on!God, very well, I'm coming wait for me there!Angelica, we'll be all right, stay where you are.You're going too fast, ooh!Do you think she'd like roses?Is this a "she"?Yes, the females are largerand less colourful.What happens when we die?What happens?We return to the place that we came from.I don't remember where I came from.Nor do I.She's very small.Yes...yes, that's one of the things that happen...We look smaller.But very peaceful.Is it done? Have you finished?Is the bird funeral complete?Yes.Well then, are we going to be denied altogether for coming so early? No, of course not.Come on, come on, boys, we'll have a cup of tea.Oh, stop it, Julian!Julian, come inside!Hey, Bug, I got this idea.We're gonna make another cake.We're gonna make a better one.What happened to the first one?And after that I think we should go out!Yes?Clarissa? It's Louis.Louis Waters. -Louis?Oh my God, you're early.Do you mind? Is it all right?Oh, why should I mind?I'm delighted! -Well, now!I feel like I'm interrupting.No, why?I know the ceremony isn't until 5,but I flew in this morning.Well, Richard's going to be thrilled.He'll be thrilled to see you!You think so? - Of course.What are we doing? We should go in...Are you all right?Yes. It's nothing.It's just the party. - Oh, right.Oh, wow, it's looking beautiful! - Thanks.Are you still with...? - Yes, I am!Still with her. Ten years.It's crazy. -Why is it crazy?No reason... Would you like something to drink?Some water. - OK.Are you still an editor?Oh, sure. -For the same publisher?Uhum. How's San Francisco?Oh, it's one of those cities people tell you to like.Richard said he thought you were happy up there.Oh, great. This illness makes him psychic.You have to prepare yourself, Louis. He is very changed...I read the book. -Oh God.Exactly! I thought you were meant to do more than just change people's names. Well... -Isn't it meant to be fiction?He even had you living on 10th street.It isn't me. -Isn't it?You know how Richard is... it's a fantasy.A whole chapter on should she buy some nail polishand then guess what - after 50 pages she doesn't.The whole thing seems to go on for eternity; nothing happensand then, wham! For no reason she kills herself.His mother kills herself.Yeah, sure, his mother, but still for no reason.Well, I... -Out of the blue!I know the book is tough, but I liked it. I know.Only one thing upset me -What's that? What upset you?Well, that there wasn't more about you.That's kind.I went back to Wellfleet.You did? -One day. I didn't tell to you?No, but, then, I never see you.You remember the house... it's still there.I think you're courageous.Courageous? Why?To dare go visit...What I mean is, to face the factthat we have lost those feelings forever.Shit! -Clarissa?I don't know what's happening. I'm sorry.I seem to be in some strange sort of mood.I'm sorry - it's very rude of me.I seem to be unravelling.I shouldn't have come. -No, it's not you, it's not you!It's more like having a presentiment, do you know what I'm saying?Oh, God, it's probably just nerves about the party.You know...bad hostess.Clarissa, what's happening?Jesus! -What is it?Do you want me to go? -No, don't go!Don't go...explain to me why this is happening.Don't! Don't touch me.Jesus, is better if you don't.It's just too much. You flying from San Francisco...and I've been nursing Richard for years!And all the time I held myself togetherNo problem. -I know.One morning in Wellfleet... you were therewe were all there...I was sleeping with him and I was out on the porch.He came behind me and put his arm on my shoulder. Good morning, Mrs. Dalloway.From then on...I've been stuck.Stuck?With the name, I mean.And now you walk in.to see you walk in...'cause I never see you...look at you! Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was you he stayed with... And I had the summer.The day I left him...I got on a train and made my way across Europe.I felt free for the first time in years.So, tell me about San Francisco.What's to tell?They still teach drama to idiots.They can't all be idiots.In fact I shouldn't tell you this...I've fallen in love.Really? -Yes.With a student. -With a student?Exactly. I know...you thinkAm I still up for this? All this intensity, all those arguments, doors being slammed.But, you know, what it's like.Are you feeling better?A little.Thank you.Do you think I am ridiculous?Ridiculous?Fortunate, too.I'm gonna leave you at Mrs. Latch's.I have to do something.Mommy, I don't wanna go.You have to, I'm sorry. I have something to do before daddy gets home. Hello.Hi, Mrs. Latch. My boy is not very happy.Mommy, I don't wanna do this.I have to go, honey.Your mommy has things she has to do.Come in, I got cookies!So, baby...You have to be brave now.Don't worry. lt's gonna be fine.Honey!Come on, come on, darling!Mommy! -Stop it!No! Mommy! -Allright, you have to stop it!Mommy, mommy, mommy...Mommy, mommy, no!Breakfast is served between 7 and 11 in the regency room.And room service is available 24 hours.Thank you, madam.Is there anything else you need?Yes, hum...No...not to be disturbed."Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking toward Bond Street." "Did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely?""All this must go on without her...""Did she resent it...or did it not become consolingto believe that death ended absolutely?""It is possible to die.""It is possible to die."There was a lovely coat for Angelica at Harrods...then nothing for the boys. It seems unfair. Only Angelica is favored. Virginia?Virginia.Virginia!What are you thinking about?Are you still with us?Your aunt is very lucky, Angelica.She has two lives...she has the life she's leadingand also of the book she's writing.This makes her very fortunate indeed.What were you thinking about?I was going to kill my heroine.But I've changed my mind.I can't.And then I'll have to kill someone else instead.A fascinating visit.We enjoyed it thoroughly.You have to go already?I wish you wouldn't go.Oh, Virginia, the last thing you want is our noisyness!My hopeless, clumsy boys!Say goodbye, boys! -Bye! Bye!You return to Walt? -Tonight.To some insufferable dinner!Not even you could envy it, Virginia.But I do.Say something, Nessa! Didn't you think I seemed better?! Yes, Virginia, you seem better.You think...you think I may one day escape?One day?!Nessa... -Nessa! Come on!Come, Angelica, we must go.Bye.Goodbye, little girl.Angelica, the train.We're gonna miss the train.Hurry, big step!Come on, come on, come on, I wanna go home!We stayed too long - we'll miss the train.Stay close.I'm sorry, I know!I tried to get earlier, I tried, OK? Don't start!I know it's just incredibly busybecause it's your party.Julia...how have you been doing?I'm fine.Come here.What have you been doing?Well, studying, mom.So...what should I do, chairs?No, let's clear off the desk first. We can take it to the bedroom.I bumped into Louis Waters.Oh, you did? Where? -In the street.They're all here, aren't they? All the ghosts...All the ghosts are assembling for the party!He is... so weird.Oh, what? You can't see that?You can't see that Louis Waters is weird?I can see that he's sad.Mum, all your friends are sad.You've been crying. What's happening?All the day I looked around this room and thoughtI'm giving a party...all I wanna do is give a party!And?I know why he does it, he does it deliberately.Oh, is this Richard! -Of course.He did it this morning...he gives me that look.What look?To say...your life is trivial.You...are so...trivial.Just daily stuff, you know, schedules and parties, and...details - that's what he means.That is what he's saying.Mum, it only matters if you think it's true.Well? Do you? Tell me.When I am with him, I feelYes, I am living...and when I am not with him,yes, everything does seem sort of...silly.I don't mean with you, right! God!Never with you.Just all the rest of it.Sally?The rest of it.False comfort.Because?If you say to me when were you happiest. -Mum...Tell me the moment you were happiest.I know! I know, it was years ago.。