Edith+Eddie (2017) User Reviews

Who Controls Our Lives?

[apollack11 · 8/10 · 13 February 2018]

This film was thought-provoking in that it asks us whether, even though a woman is 95 or 96 years old, and suffers from some mild dementia, and is under a guardianship, she should be able to get married, and have some say over her own life. The film has its clear point of view, painting the legal caretakers as monsters who are out to break up an elderly interracial relationship, and showing Edith and Eddie's need for love, camaraderie, and affection, and Edith's desire to remain in her own home with Eddie despite the will of the powers-that-be, and it certainly does a good job of it. This film will make you afraid to get old, and question whether the American legal system, particularly when it comes to the elderly, is getting it right. I

A Beautifully Tragic Story Kept in the Dark

[idow-02786 · 6/10 · 15 June 2018]

The documentary Edith + Eddie is a story of the oldest interracial couple fighting to stay together in a rush of family drama. This documentary has a theme of the rights of the elderly, the influence of racial issues, and the power of love. Yes, the film, at its core, is a love story between a couple desperate to stay together despite a family feud. The themes of inter-racialism and ageism are applied light enough to get the true message of love across. The camera often focuses on moments and icons that enforce those themes, and there is usually a lack of music to allow you to focus better on the conversations. However, I was concerned that there was a lack of information regarding the feud of the family. There was a mention of one daughter involved, but the other two are flat out not included at all. Whether they refused to have a speaking role, or weren't invited to star at all, may never be known. I understand that the feud has lasted for years, and that there's too much information to fit into twenty-nine minutes, but a mention of the true story at least would have made it better. Another problem I have with this documentary is how it villainizes certain characters, particularly the ones responsible for driving apart the couple. The characters are presented in a black and white situation, but life is rarely like this. No. This is a situation shaded with different greys. Whoever had the best solution for Edith and Eddie's issue might remain undecided forever. The question is who is to blame? This ties back with the feud of the family. Everyone had his or her own mindset on how to deal with the problem, and this had devastating results that drove the family apart. This is never mentioned, and I have to criticise this documentary for its lack of truth. This was still a good documentary, though. Beautifully moving, and brilliantly presented. The inclusion of many symbols of racial issues, along with the message of how we treat the older people in our society, makes this documentary incredibly powerful. Older viewers are more likely to enjoy this as, coming from experience, younger audiences will find legal battles boring. With all that in mind, this still is a sweet and tragic documentary. It has a brilliant representation about the injustice on the elders in our world, but a little more information about the family's situation would be nice.

Sweet and Interesting Doc

[The_Film_Auditor · 8/10 · 17 July 2018]

Edith+Eddie is a heartwarming, yet heartbreaking short documentary about a relationship between a recently married couple who are both in their 90s. The doc tells the story of their fight against social workers who want to force Edith to move away from her love Eddie. The documentary keeps you invested in there cute relationship for the entire 29 minute runtime. As a viewer, I felt all types of emotions including sadness, joy, and frustration while watching this film, and that is one of the reasons I liked it. The film makes you feel so much. Overall, I think the film is a great short doc that I would recommend to most.

Touching little documentary that really should make you angry

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 12 February 2018]

"Edith+Eddie" (in fact co-produced by Cher) is an American halh hour documentary short film released in 2017, but made a lot earlier already by director Laura Checkoway I believe. This is the frontrunner for winning Best Documentary Short at the Oscars this year and we will see in under 2 months if it succeeds. It is the story of a really old married couple in their mid-90s, but love may not only not last long for them because of their ailing health, but because the female's daughter wants to use her guardianship of the mother to locate her to another state. To be honest, this film is a perfect example of legal failure for pathing the way for these tragic events. Still you can say that the death of Eddie was not entirely caused by Edith's leaving and pneumonia has played the key role there, even if the broken heart may have played a role too. Listening to him during the audio only part is pretty sad for sure. May break your heart too. And the interracial component felt rushed in a bit too, but it felt very much for the sake of it. I'm sure though the Academy will love it. Anyway, all in all a pretty good little film, very touching at times with some real life tragedy, but good music as well. It's definitely better than Heroin(e), the only other of the nominees I have seen so far. Go check it out as soon as you can and if I read correctly Eddie died in late 2014 already, so a lot of time has passed since then and I wonder why it took this long for the film released. But I'm glad it did and I hope Ethel, if still alive, is happy and without pain wherever she is now. Thumbs-up.

A very tragic story

[ebookless · 7/10 · 15 June 2018]

The documentary of Edith and Eddie, who are two different races and are very old. This documentary is very touching. Edith and Eddie meet when they were playing lottery 10 years ago, Eddie said, "it was love at first sight". Soon after, they got married and Edith's family was not happy with the two different races. The music that was played in the documentary is very old fashioned and is the music that Edith and Eddie listened to in their everyday lives. In one of the scenes Edith and Eddie were holding hands, the holding of the hands symbolizes the different races. In another scene after Edith left and Eddie was by himself, the documentary crew took a shot with the house, tree and the moon all of those things have their own meaning. There is a lot of symbolism in the documentary and forms different ideas throughout the documentary. At the end of the film, there is a short scene of Edith and Eddie after they both died, there was Edith and Eddie in a car driving into the light, the light symbolizes heaven and the happy music symbolizes that Edith and Eddie will be happier in heaven. Still to this day, there has been no funeral planned for Eddie. This documentary makes us want Edith and Eddie to have been happy in their old age, but also at the same time makes us angry because there were no plans made for Eddie after he passed away.

loving couple broken apart

[twalker-29961 · 6/10 · 17 June 2018]

Edith and Eddie a true sad and un fair documentary. Edith is 96 and Eddie 95 both in love, but there is a family feud about the America's oldest interracial newlyweds. I recommend this movie to the people that would like a documentary with love and drama. Through the documentary, we are made to believe that Patricia is very nice to her mother but the truth is she is not. In the documentary, the guardian is trying to get Edith to go to Florida leaving Eddie behind because he does not want to go. They want to separate this loving couple because of their race, because Edith is Native American and Eddie is a white American. Personally, this is a documentary for some one that like slow and sad documentaries and not that engaging for teenagers.

Edith And Eddie by zoe (Sherrel the sheep)

[zoemuir · 10/10 · 15 June 2018]

The Documentary of Edith and Eddie is a sad story with people in love. This story has a beautiful background. I would recommend this to others especially people that love a sad story of two people in love. In the film it shows two people in love being separated but had a happy life with bumps on the way. This inspires people that you are never too old to fall in love. At the start of the documentary, it tells us how Edith and Eddie meet. At first sight, they fell in love. The start is so sweet, it does not matter what the race they where they fell in love. It teaches people a lesson. At any age and any race, you can still be in love.

Edith and Eddie

[rubenpanzich · 7/10 · 15 June 2018]

Edith and Eddie is a story about true love or so we have been told, with every side of a story you get their view on what happened. For example, in the documentary the guardian: Jessica is being shown as the villain trying to separate Edith and Eddie but really, she was trying to help because the house was not safe for them with the toilet being upstairs. After doing some research, we found Edith and Eddie would talk multiple times per day when Edith went to Florida and later the lawyers confirmed that Edith was never attacked by Jessica's husband but really told that as a story and thought of it as real. However, for all those people that think that they still did it for the money that is not true due to the fact that was left out is that Edith lived for two more years and only after that did they sell the house. Now I bet your wondering who is the villain really well it is actually Rebecca, yes the Rebecca that was "helping" Edith and Eddie, really she stole $11,000 and illegally let Edith and Eddie stay and marry because they did not have permission from the Guardian. Anyway, this film was about a 7/10 but personally, after doing some research it feels more like a lie than the truth.

love in old age

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 20 August 2018]

The Academy Award-nominated "Edith+Eddie" focuses on an interracial couple in Virginia. But unlike a number of interracial couples, these two got married in their 90s. And then comes the unpleasant issues with their families.

I like seeing movies and documentaries about stories that we rarely get to see, and that includes this one. The documentary is at once both happy (the couple manages to have a loving relationship) and sad (the families intervene). I would be interested to know what became of the characters after the story ended.

Good one!

A Truly Inspiring Story About Americas Oldest Newlyweds.

[ryantempra · 7/10 · 17 June 2018]

"Edith + Eddie" a short documentary, is a film that outlines the importance of taking care and respecting your elderly people. In the documentary Edith and Eddie are forced to leave each other, due to a lack of care for Edith. Edith's daughter , Rebecca Wright, is placed as Edith's Attorney during this crisis, But whilst doing so steels 11,000 dollars from her mothers bank account. The director, Laura Checkoway, portrays the importance of the documentary by using technical codes such as camera angles and Dutch tilts to show how real and important the film is. The director also uses a shot looking up from the ground outside of their Alexandria house to show the police and Edith's new attorney Jessica Neisson interrogating her. I would defiantly recommend this short documentary to an audience of all ages.

The tale of Eddie and Edith

[jazzyramiro · 10/10 · 15 June 2018]

On my first look on this documentary, I thought this was a very enjoyable and it shows the love that Eddie and Edith have for each other and while Edith is suffering dementia, she is forced to move to Florida with the It ends months later with the couple being separated by Edith's court-appointed legal guardian, and while the police was on the scene so Edith had to leave The home which they lived in because it was unstable for Edith and with the up stair bath room on the night Edith left their home Eddie was all alone this documentary shows that Eddie and Edith truly showed that they love each other and there was some questions are the money stolen from the bank account but one of the daughters stole the money but would not give it back later on in the documentary Eddie did not have contact with Edith for like about 5 years I think and Eddie was all alone in the house where Edith use to live in the house there was this on moment in the first scene it showed Eddie and Edith dancing and holding hands and I thought that was a very powerful That they truly showed the love they had for each other and how whatever you do you cannot separate them

Edith and Eddie a Magical Story

[hblechynden · 7/10 · 15 June 2018]

This heartwarming story 'Americans Americas oldest interracial Newlyweds' is about two people of different races who fell in love and got married at the age of 95 and 96, Edith and Eddie. Edith has dementia and her family wants to send Edith to Florida so she can be with her daughter, but Edith does not want to go and Eddie does not want her to go and they end up calling the police to try to get Edith to go. The camera angles in this documentary emphasizes that different races can be happy together no matter where they are, example a Edith and Eddie sitting by the lake they used this by a long shot, they did this shot by being behind the couple so we can see what Edith and Eddie were seeing. This documentary made me feel sad in some ways e.g. When they were trying to force Edith to Florida and happy in other ways e.g. when Edith and Eddie were by the lake. I would recommend this to a more mature audience because I do not think people my age would really like this type of story.

Touching, infuriating, but what's the rest of the story?

[theseekerhp · 4/10 · 25 February 2018]

I'm not going to get deep into what other reviewers have already said about this film about an elderly couple who have their lifestyle and lives taken from them. The couple is very sweet, and seem somewhat capable, considering their advanced age. But they don't seem to be capable of being very articulate about their predicament. They are aware of what is happening, but don't seem to understand the complexity of the situation... maybe they do, but if so, it doesn't make it onto the film. One of Edith's daughters is present in the movie (and their lives) the other is not. The daughter who is present seems to be strong and articulate, and to be acting in Edith & Eddie's best interest. She did have power of attorney for Edith, but it isn't clear why she lost it. If she were present, why was power of attorney taken from her?

Also, there is no explanation of why the other daughter, the one who has Edith moved away from Eddie, is not on screen. Did she turn down offers from the filmmakers to be part of the film? Was she not given the opportunity to participate?

In the end, we can only speculate about the other side of the story. The perspective of the film is that the daughter who does not appear in the film has only self-interest in mind. But we do have some information that can inform our speculation:

• The film states that the attorney acting as Edith's advocate never met Edith. We are not given any perspective as to why that might be, but I can think of no good reason for this. How can anyone make decisions for someone without consulting with them to learn about what their needs and desires are? Or what their true situation is?
• Edith is removed from her home and placed in care of the daughter who is not represented in the film, with the promise that it is only temporary, and with the promise that Eddie may speak to her every day. The film doesn't even ask why she isn't placed in care of the local daughter, who has apparently been caring for Edith and Eddie for years. But back to those promises: Both of them are broken. Eddie is completely cut off from communication from his wife, and his wife is not returned after the two weeks.

In the end, my take is that the filmmakers probably have the correct perspective, but I am unsatisfied that so much of this story is left out. I left the film feeling infuriated that these happy, mostly healthy people were forced apart. But because they didn't tell the whole story, the part of the story that disagrees with their perspective, I feel manipulated. I feel that the filmmakers think that the public might draw a different conclusion than their own, and therefore left out any information that did not support their point of view. Perhaps they would have included the other perspective if they had more time, but it doesn't feel that way... it feels like they began with the perspective that the other point of view was just wrong, and therefore didn't deserve to be voiced.

Love with no fear

[ellalittle-76442 · 7/10 · 17 June 2018]

The Oscar Award winning documentary short, 'Edith and Eddie', is an emotional story of an elderly bi-racial marriage. The couple is faced by a variety of depressing situations, which are slowly tearing them apart. Conflict evolves between sisters, over caring for their aging Mother. As Edith was diagnosed with dementia, her self-care was taken out her hands. The disease then stopping Edith from making decisions about her own life. Edith and Eddie fall in-love at the age of 95 and 96. As they are of two different races, they have people fighting against their relationship. Set in America, the directors have been able to persuade the audience emotionally through the use of symbolism, settings and camera angles. The two different races are conveyed through extreme close ups, viewing the close bond between two people of different colour skin. We view blackouts, symbolising many traumatising events and moments of loss. The documentary allows us a "Window into their lives", giving us an understanding of what Edith and Eddie are experiencing. Edith and Eddie are religious, relying on God to be their guide to keep their relationship alive. Their religious community acts as a support network for their relationship, as they lack support from authority. I believe the documentary successfully conveys the feeling of sorrow for Edith and Eddie. Yet, it leaves the audience clueless about the other side of the truth. As the directors presented an explicit "Good guy and Bad guy", we are left with unanswered questions about their stories. As a viewer, the documentary gave me a sense of hope for the aging couple. I was captured as the story hit the climax, a tear swelling in my eye; they never lost hope or gave up. I had a clear view of which characters supported Edith and Eddie, and which ones didn't. I recommend this documentary for a mature audience, as there may be some confronting themes. An emotional story of a loving couple, through a challenging time of their life. This documentary shows many moments of loss and sadness, yet so much hope.

A truly motivating story but what's missing

[liamdonaldson-40360 · 6/10 · 17 June 2018]

This documentary really put the value and importance of the elderly in perspective. Edith and Eddie were separated in their mid. 90's when they had already lived out there life to its fullest and only wanted to be with each other. In the middle of the documentary, Edith and Eddie were completely happy and then came along the authorities. The guardian Jessica was portrayed as this evil monster because she was separating them but after reading more reviews, I understood that in fact she was only doing her job. The real villain was the daughter, Rebecca Wright. Rebecca emptied her mother's bank account of $11,000 and refused to return the funds. Wright denied the allegations and exclaimed that her actions were in the best interest of her mother.

The two main themes were love and loneliness. The filmmaker conveys these ideas through the camera angles, when showing the house and the window from outside it made me feel as though I was looking into the house and the other shot where there is no window. This made me think of loneliness and separation from loved ones. The music is another factor.

The music starts with American gospels and joyful tunes to summarize the peace and serenity Edith and Eddie had before the guardian decided to split them up even if it was for their benefit. The music then sloped down into a bleak hymn sung by Edith. The colour at the beginning of the documentary was bright and cheerful whereas the second half was dark and gloomy. The filmmaker used these themes very well in my eyes, representing the complete and utter distraught the separation took toll on both partners.

The one thing I disliked about this documentary was that the filmmaker did not give the whole story this relates back to the guardian and her role being the mean villain. They said that Eddie and Edith never spoke again when in fact they spoke every day. They lied about Edith and Eddie's status and contact with each other, which did degrade the trust and honesty within the relationship of the filmmaker and the viewers. I assumed Eddie died from loneliness and isolation due to unfair conditions by the guardian when but was in fact completely natural causes and not the guardians wrong doing.

Overall, the documentary displayed well-constructed themes and ideas through camera angles, colour and lighting, editing and music. Towards the end of the documentary I felt emotionally enveloped and engaged in it. Again, the one thing that let it down was the authenticity of portraying the right villain. The documentary makes me feel in need to be around my family and cherish our time together as it may turn out to be shorter than expected because in reality no one ever knows what will happen next and what the future may hold.

A Beautifully Crafted Short with a Few Facts Missing

[adow-44870 · 7/10 · 15 June 2018]

'Edith and Eddie' is an expertly crafted documentary about the true story of the oldest interracial newlyweds that pulls on the heartstrings and gets the tears flowing. 'Edith and Eddie' weaves its way through the themes of racism, love, the indignity of the elderly and the greed of our world, with grace. The filmmakers have achieved this through their gorgeous technical work and symbolism. The camera shots help to give a very distinct feel to the documentary and helps us to switch between the themes and push them further. When Edith and Eddie, the stars of this documentary, are together, the shots of them side by side give us a look into their deep and loving relationship. A lot of shots are close ups of Eddie holding hands with Edith, drawing attention the different colours of their skin, solidifying the theme that love is love, no matter the differences. When Edith and Eddie are separated, the filmmakers use Dutch tilts to disorientate the viewer, giving a sense of the confusion and emptiness of Edith's absence. The house they lived in is filmed in a way that makes it feel like a prison without her. Things like trains and the moon are used to give us a sense of passing time, without the need of narrating. The audio of 'Edith and Eddie' is one of its best features and provokes deep emotion in viewers. It captures the picturesque nature of the beginning with a fun and light tune, giving the audience a sense of the playfulness of their relationship, dancing to music and spending time together. When things start to go downhill for the couple, the music lets us know with a dreary, monotone soundtrack, giving us a sense of dread. When there is tragedy, as there is in this story, all of the music stops, and every tiny sound is magnified, helping us to feel the grief of the people in this story. At the bittersweet ending, the audio is so moving and full of emotion that I was close to tears and it really solidified the themes in my head. The editing is some of the best I have seen and really drives the emotions home. There is no narrating only subtitles, which makes documentary feel like no one is intervening with the story, giving it a very authentic feel. One of the best sequences is when the video cuts out, leaving only the audio, a black screen and subtitles as lawyers and the couple are arguing. The use of a black screen was a great move, as black is a colour we associate with darkness, fear and generally all things bad, which really portrays that feeling of uncertainty and dread the couple feels. When the lawyers are arguing and certain lines that Eddie says, instead of being captioned with who is speaking as it does in the rest of the sequence, they are left nameless. This causes us to consider the words as a truth instead of an opinion, and those lines really casts the lawyers and the parts of the family taking Edith away in an antagonistic light. Lines like, "How do you feel doing this to your mother," "You're doing evil things," "You'll never forget it," and "You'll remember this to your dying day, you will remember this until your dying day," really makes the lawyers and opposing family seem evil and cruel. This causes the viewers, myself included, to feel outrage against the injustice against this elderly couple. Overall, the documentary short was stunning and it pulled out deep in me. I was disgusted about the way our elderly are being treated in society, and that something should be done to change this. Upon further research however, I found that many details were left out, and the story had been made to put more impact in the emotion, and less based on facts like people hope documentaries are. After that, the documentary felt a little one sided. The themes of racism felt a little forced. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this incredible documentary short.

Edith + Eddie Review

[sthomas-00204 · 9/10 · 15 June 2018]

"Eddie and Edith" is an emotional documentary short about an interracial elderly couple that is being spilt up by Edith's demonised guardian Jessica; but that is only one side of the story. In this documentary, there are many hidden themes and symbols, in some parts of the documentary specifically once Edith had moved; there are Dutch tilts to try to disorientate the viewer and show that things are not the same anymore. In that same scene there is a part showing the welcome mat but its half covered in leaves this shows that no one has been coming to visit Eddie in a while. There are also other themes such as greed, ageism and love at old age. As I mentioned at the beginning the documentary does not tell the full story, though this does not make it bad. In the documentary, they demonise the guardian Jessica and make her seem like the bad person whilst really she was only trying to help. This documentary makes me feel emotional especially the ending, sad music always gets me. It also makes me want to hang out with my grandparents more so I will have many memories of them unlike my Poppy. I reckon that this documentary suits older kids and teens better than younger kids because of the different themes hidden in the movie that young kids will not understand, I would definitely recommend this movie, and it is very emotional and makes me want to visit my grandparents more.

They're old and in love

[sbatticci · 7/10 · 17 June 2018]

This documentary is a little beauty and is a very touching real life story. Their story has been kept in the dark, and I'm sure that there are more story's like this. I'm very pleased that it has come out for all the world to see and hopefully influence more documentary's like this one. This documenter is about an old couple that are trying to stay together but are being pulled apart by Edith's family. The documentary makes me feel like there is more that can be done to keep couples together that are their age and that at that age they shouldn't have to leave their loved ones. Although I like this documentary, I think that it would be more for the older age group so around 16+ or just for people who like documentary's that are about love. The documentary is not very loud or fast moving because the director Laura Checkoway decided that it could symbolize how they aren't very fast paste and loud. There more slow and quiet. Over all I think that this documentary is lovely.

Unanswered Questions

[jennileevanrooyen · 7/10 · 15 June 2018]

The documentary Edith and Eddie conveys the relationship between an interracial couple as well as the rights of the elderly. The filmmaker conveys these ideas by the use of symbolism for example; religious iconography that reinforces that Jesus is their only hope. The audio and mesmerizing music behind it makes a film that shows what a journey Edith and Eddie have been on. I feel the documentary has not put enough detail into the short film and that there is more background information.e.g. Family dynamics. The documentary made me feel confused and upset. I questioned myself and asked myself why they would try to pull them apart. I would recommend the documentary to others so they understand the rights of elderly and interracial couples. I do not think many people would enjoy it because it is a bit slow moving and hard to understand. It is more for Adults not for children that do not get bored easy.

Another racism documentry

[jacobboydell · 1/10 · 15 June 2018]

Edith and Eddie is a short documentry about an interracial married couple that struggle to stay together. The director of the film is trying to show the love between Edith and Eddie. The filmmaker shows this by having many scenes with Edith and Eddie holding hands or sitting together. In the film, it seems that the director spent too much time symbolising their love for each other and mising more infomation about their story. In my opinion, the film was nothing special. I think that it is just another racim based story that fits in with the hundreds of others so I think that we don't need another one.

good story but not the truth

[christopheripsen · 3/10 · 17 June 2018]

At the start documentary, I found that the daughter was demonizing and cruel and the other sister was the had better quality's but we read an article and my opinion changed very quickly. The filmmaker is very good with their symbolism of the brick house with no windows and on a tilt to show the house in Florida as a prison. The audio is very good at making us fell a certain way especially when Edith sang about seeing Eddie down by the water. In one scene, Eddie is fighting against the caretaker calling her evil and how do you sleep at night in this scene they use subtitles with a black screen so we focus on the fight and not on anything else. Edith does not want to go to Florida because she raised her kids in the house she was living in and that she was clamming that Patrice (sister) husband abused her. In the documentary they were trying to show that the health care system is dodge but it does not show the real truth. They made one of the sister the bad one but in truth the other sister was taking money, and they make the caretaker sound really bad, but she was doing her job they had to move Edith because there was an upstairs bathroom that was a risk and she was losing weight and not taking her drugs to help her. This documentary is not the truth so I do not recommend it there was a call to action because when you watch it you fell like you need to help and change the American health system.

newlyweds Edith and Eddie

[rileycliddelow · 15 June 2018]

Newlyweds Edith and Eddie is a touching documentary about an elderly couple and a heartbreaking family feud. In the documentary they always look to God in times of their needs. The filmmakers have symbolised what the people have felt through the documentary by their simple camera angles. The documentary Edith and Eddie has ended on a very depressing note and I think it has not told the whole story of Edith and Eddie. I think this documentary is a very glum and has a really religious meaning it has these really heart-warming parts in the documentary where Edith and Eddie show their undying love for each other. I would recommend this film as it is a lovely film conveying the aspects of horrible family feud and the gorgeous couple Edith and Eddie.

An insight into a sad story

[jessicabarton-codd · 17 June 2018]

"Edith and Eddie" is a moving story based on the love of an elderly couple. The two are faced with many challenges and heart breaking moments throughout the entirety of the documentary. Edith and Eddie are forced by many of whom are supposed to be family to do things that is causing distress and truly dark and depressing events. The documentary based in America is portraying the emotionally grabbing story by using camera angles to symbolise the love between whom are different races. There are many times the camera goes black with just talking portraying the fear and distress in the elderly couple's voices. We also see the focus on the window symbolising the window into their life and their love that is slowing being torn apart. This documentary ends on a sad note as Eddie passes without his wife being there by his side I recommend this documentary because it shows that race does not matter and the importance of family.