Excellent movie! It’s so wonderful to see a deep movie about 3 women.Nicole Kidman did a fabulous job. I didn’t recognize her at all. And I kept wondering, who is this actress. She has such an intense and thoughtful look. You can see the crazy emotion under that stilled look.

I couldn’t quite figure out why Laura Brown (played by Julianne Moore) was so depressed. I did like it when she came talk to Meryl Streep’s character and told her that it was either to stay with her family and kill herself eventually or leave and live. She chose life.

The movie cover says it is a seductive movie. I didn’t understand it at first. But then I thought it is kind of seductive, in a sense that suicide sounded really good. It’s almost like go into a warm body of water and submerge yourself. Going back to where you came from…

The special feature is informative. It has the screen writer talking about the formation of the story, the actors and directors talking about the acting. It covers quite a bit the life of Virginia Woolf. Now I am interested in her fiction.

Comments from IMDB that I like
by cwooden-1 (Sun Oct 28 2007 13:29:45)

The commentary is really helpful and it confirmed some of my guesses as to plot need. Before I heard the commentaries, I felt that Virginia was trying to make a connection that is real – it’s not a lesbian kiss – just reaching out to a person she truly loves through a gentle act of desperation. I don’t think that Laura’s kiss isn’t consciously sexual but somewhat like Virginia’s – trying to reach out and feel something geniune. Clarissa’s is one of love for her partner and realizing that her life isn’t trite. Richard’s death and older Laura’s confession shows her what’s really important and allows her to move on a love her partner completely.

 by stupid_flanders (Tue Jan 8 2008 06:54:21)

I don’t agree with you about Laura Brown larpine. I’m not saying that she’s definately not gay or bisexual, but I don’t think that element is necessary to her character. Her alienation and despair are caused by the fact that she doesn’t feel like a wife and mother. She doesn’t feel a deep, natural connection with her son (in the way she thinks she should), she doesn’t love her husband, and doesn’t fit in amongst the other wives that she knows. In short, she found herself in the same situation as many women in nuclear families in the post-war years, living how other people expected her to live rather than how she wanted to live, and feeling trapped and unable to do anything about it because of perceived social scandal. Her kiss with Kitty is a momentary connection, not an erotic episode, and beyond that fleeting kiss there is nothing in the novel or film to suggest Laura is bisexual.

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I think women can have a deep need to connect with other woman,  which doesn’t necessarily define them as gay.  As to what the characters were thinking when they made the kiss, maybe the book will give a better answer.