The Hours

FROM ΒΟΟΚ TO SCREEN
In collaboration with the Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture

21:00 Introduction - Q&A on the novel and the film by Thanassis Hatzopoulos Poet-Psychoanalyst
21:30 THE HOURS (2002, 111’)
Directed by: Stephen Daldry
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Ed Harris
Duration: 111 minutes
Year of Production: 2002

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) and her landmark novel Mrs. Dalloway - which celebrated its centennial this year- form the heart of The Hours, the acclaimed film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In his book, Cunningham interweaves the lives of three women living in different eras, each connected by Woolf’s work and each grappling with time, identity, and the transformative power of art.

We meet Woolf herself in the English countryside of the 1920s, battling inner demons as she writes her novel, leading to her suicide in the River Ouse in 1941. Then there’s Laura Brown, a 1950s housewife in Los Angeles, trapped in a perfect image that offers her no real fulfillment, whose quiet crisis leads to a life-altering decision. Lastly, in late 20th-century New York, Clarissa Vaughan, a literary editor, prepares a party for her ailing friend while struggling with a sense of sorrow and emotional fragility.

Three women, each in search of what gives life meaning, wrestle with internal struggles and external expectations, seeking love, hope—or simply a way to endure.

The Hours was both a critical and commercial success, garnering nine Academy Award nominations and winning Best Actress for Nicole Kidman. Michael Cunningham’s novel was published in Greek in 2000 by A.A. Livanis, translated by Lyo Kalovyrnas.