In this blog post, I will focus on “Mrs. Dalloway”—who connects the lives of the three women in ‘The Hours’ across different eras—to analyze the film’s narrative structure, key scenes, framing, and mise-en-scène, and examine the meanings of oppression and liberation, as well as the concepts of the moment and eternity, as portrayed in the film.

“The Hours”: Why I Love This Movie

For people my age, the movie “The Hours” is somewhat unfamiliar. I first saw it during my senior year of high school. Having heard a lot on TV about Nicole Kidman’s transformation and the critics’ praise for the film, I took the opportunity—when the movie I originally planned to see was sold out—to recommend this film to my friends. After watching the roughly two-hour film, I got a lot of flak from my friends. I, too, had found it boring throughout and thought it was incomprehensible. Yet, it was a film with such vivid imagery that it remains vividly etched in my memory.
This was my first impression of ‘The Hours’. It was certainly boring and hard to follow, but I felt that each scene was clearly connected and that the film was trying to convey something powerful. As time went on and I watched many other movies, ‘The Hours’ often came to mind. I wanted to watch it again properly. I had a feeling that watching it a second time would be very different from the first. But whenever I went to the video store, I just couldn’t bring myself to pick it up.
Recently, I ended up watching a movie called ’21 Grams’. It was a film that constantly interwove the interconnected lives of several characters. Since the timeline wasn’t linear, at first I couldn’t tell the characters apart or understand the plot. However, as the film moved toward its climax, the plot resolved, and the fragments of the movie in my mind began to fit together like pieces of a puzzle. I was able to grasp the film’s meaning to some extent, and I still remember it as a very good movie.
After watching this film, I found myself longing even more to see ‘The Hours’. Thinking I might feel something different if I watched it now, I decided to rewatch ‘The Hours’, and it has since become one of the most memorable films I’ve ever seen.
When I heard the topic for this report, the first movie that immediately came to mind was ‘The Hours’. It’s a film I truly love, and while one could say all the characters in it are Mrs. Dalloway, they each have their own distinct qualities. Though they are women from different eras, they are all connected within the same time period. Just as Virginia Woolf writes her novel in the film, the film’s central message unfolds consistently from beginning to end. All the characters in the film are interconnected, and each holds significance. It is a film in which not a single element or detail can be casually overlooked. The charms of this film are countless.
That is why I chose to analyze this captivating film. By analyzing key frames in each scene, I aim to interpret the meaning conveyed by changes in the frames and understand the underlying significance through the progression of interconnected frames. I also hope to gain a deeper understanding of the content through mise-en-scène analysis, even though I have not yet studied it.

Summary of the Narrative in ‘The Hours’

Throughout the film, the lives of three women living in three different times and places are depicted through a parallel narrative. These women include the historical figure Virginia Woolf, as well as two fictional characters—Laura and Clarissa—who are connected through her novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’. The film depicts a single day in which each of them faces events that, for their own reasons, stir up resentment toward the daily routines to which they have always belonged.

As their daily lives unfold, although the triggers for each event differ, homosexuality serves as a key motif that heightens the characters’ madness and compels them to give it vent.
Virginia Woolf expressed her depression through her writing; she viewed the protagonist as another version of herself and shaped the protagonist’s fate accordingly. Her depression stemmed largely from her homosexuality. She completely rejects any romantic contact with her husband. The gaze she directs at her sister’s daughter—who lives in London and has taken time out of her schedule to visit—as well as the kiss shared by the two sisters on the porch are frenzied expressions of homosexuality.
Consider Laura’s case. She is an ordinary woman who has buried her hidden desires, married a man, and built a household free from financial hardship. Their daily lives are monotonous, and they mask this boredom and inexplicable emptiness with exaggerated laughter, parties, and perpetual smiles. This mirrors the world of Virginia Woolf’s novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, which Laura is reading, and is epitomized by the character of Kathy, who visits Laura’s home.
Through the event of Kathy’s hospitalization, Kathy briefly sheds that mask of pretense in front of her friend Laura, and as they offer each other comfort, Laura comes to realize her homosexuality through a kiss with Kathy. That kiss becomes the catalyst that makes Laura realize this is not the life she wants to choose. Although the incident initially drives her to the brink of madness and she considers suicide, she eventually resolves to give birth to her unborn child and then leave her family—a decision that leads her to return home.
Laura later reunites with her first son, Richard, and the third female protagonist, Clarissa, who was once Richard’s lover and is now living with a woman named Sally. After spending a long time caring for her former lover Richard, who has AIDS, her madness erupts during the party celebrating Richard’s literary award. Her depression and confusion reach a climax when Richard commits suicide right before her eyes.
She then meets Richard’s mother, Rose, who has come for the funeral. Although the women had harbored negative feelings toward Rose, Clarissa is left speechless after a brief conversation with her—realizing that, beyond being the mother who had treated Richard so badly, Rose’s inner turmoil and struggles are something Clarissa, as a lesbian herself, can empathize with. Amid this subtle turmoil, she shares a kiss with Sally, her partner of ten years.
Leaving behind a climax symbolized by the kiss between the two women, the film quietly depicts the tragic conclusion to the three women’s descent into madness. Virginia, unable to endure any further madness or the harm it would cause those around her, chose to take her own life; Laura, after destroying her family and leaving to find her own life, learns of the tragic end of her son Richard, who is also gay. Clarissa witnesses her lover’s suicide right before her eyes; the party ends in failure, and the film concludes with his funeral.

Others’ Analyses and My Opinion

In Cunningham’s original work, one chapter each is devoted to Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) in Richmond in 1923, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) in Los Angeles in 1949, and Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) in New York at the end of the 20th century, presenting their stories in parallel. And in the film? There’s no need for that. Instead of removing the characters’ reflections and literary descriptions that abound in Cunningham’s original work, David Hare makes full use of the cinematic language of the “match cut.”
Following the opening sentence of ‘Mrs. Dalloway’—“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”—the film presents a series of brief, fleeting scenes involving flowers and Clarissa Vaughan and Laura Brown. This creates a distinct emotional impact not found in the original novel. While this impact is highly sophisticated and technical—sometimes even breathtaking—paradoxically, it resonates with the overall feel of the film. Perhaps one could say the form and content are in harmony. However, for the most part, this rapid pace of the film’s structure actually makes it much more entertaining.
Although the stories of the three women are told in parallel, overall, Laura and Clarissa appear to be subordinate to Virginia. There’s Laura, reading ‘Mrs. Dalloway’—her creation—and Clarissa, who shares the name of the protagonist in ‘Mrs. Dalloway’.
While there are certainly moments where Laura and Clarissa might seem like characters in a play directed by Virginia, I believe these three women are distinct individuals who, while following the basic narrative arc of Virginia’s novel, each possess their own unique differences. I also have a different perspective on the idea that Virginia Woolf occupies a divine position and the other two women are her creations. Virginia merely created the medium that connects these three women; they are all women dreaming of their own liberation while living under the same oppression.
Furthermore, just like the novel, the film depicts a single day in their lives. The 1951 version of Laura Brown, who appears after Virginia says, “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll have to kill someone else instead,” seems like a character in a play directed by Virginia. The film is set two years after the events of the novel. In fact, this narrative shift is the film’s central pillar. It is also the only way for these three women to feel a sense of solidarity. In this way, the lives of these three women become intertwined like a spider’s web.
The film suggests that maintaining relationships with others can, in itself, become a heavy burden. Clearly, all three women find their relationships burdensome. However, with the exception of Mrs. Dalloway, I can’t help but wonder if Virginia and Clarissa are living for the memories of the beautiful moments they shared with their respective husbands—and whether it is precisely these moments that are weighing so heavily on them.
What about the relationships between Virginia and her husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane), and Laura and her husband Dan (John C. Reilly)? The husbands are entirely devoted to their wives and are incredibly caring. While there is an underlying sense of “I must take care of you,” that in itself shouldn’t be such a serious problem. However, both Virginia and Laura find their circumstances unbearable.
Laura is a bit easier to relate to; the scene where she sees her husband off to work and stands with her back to the window eloquently conveys that she sees herself as a doll trapped in a dollhouse. Clarissa and Richard (Ed Harris) are a bit different, but their presence is still both a comfort and a burden to one another. The burden of these relationships and the weight of life are seen through the eyes of these three women. With the exception of Richard, all the men become “others.”
The emotional turmoil they experience over the course of a single day is meant to express, as Virginia Woolf once mused, a day that feels like a lifetime. Flowers, a party, a day—all of these are formal devices intended to echo ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, though some critics argue that cramming them in prevents the film from effectively telling its story. However, I find the emotional turmoil of those three women quite moving.
And what they spew out like steam from a pressure cooker—was it not a kiss between women, rather than a scream, tears, or a suicide attempt? Because it was something their “others”—that is, men—never intended, and because it is such a natural part of reality, the pressure they face is all the more unbearable. They vent that pressure through a kiss with a woman. I think of it as their final scream.
At this point, I think I’ve pretty much covered everything I wanted to say. Technically, it’s quite sophisticated and feels densely packed with details, but I believe it says everything it needs to. The three lead actors likely deserve a great deal of credit for that. Of course, we should also give credit to Hair for the screenplay and to Daldry for the direction.
Oh, right. Just one more thing. I tend to be obsessed with imagery related to death, and I found another wonderful image in this film. The overhead shot of the moment when Laura was about to commit suicide in the hotel and water gushed in from under the bed—it was so mysterious yet intense. It also connects to Virginia’s demise. The power of that single scene was quite significant to me.

Analysis of the Overall Structure

The overall structure of ‘The Hours’ follows a narrative that interweaves the stories of three women from different eras.
Using Woolf and her novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ as a medium, the film depicts a day in the lives of three women: Virginia Woolf in the suburbs of London in 1923, Laura Brown in Los Angeles in 1951, and Clarissa Vaughn in New York in 2001. The central element driving this structure is ‘Mrs. Dalloway’, which Virginia is writing.
Virginia infuses her own thoughts into the novel ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ and lives her life obsessed with it. Through this book, Laura Brown discovers her own repressed self and finds the motivation to start a new life. Clarissa, called “Mrs. Dalloway” by her boyfriend Richard, who has AIDS, believes she is living her life just like Mrs. Dalloway.
This becomes evident from the very first scene of the film. The novel includes a passage where Mrs. Dalloway goes to buy flowers; accordingly, Laura reads the book and says, “I must buy some flowers,” while Clarissa also goes out to buy flowers in real life.
Although these three women live in different eras, their identical actions are shown through cross-cutting. From the very first scene, all three women are shown lying in their respective beds with worried expressions, and then they all look into a mirror. The three women performing these identical actions continue to intersect on screen. They drive the film forward by following the same pattern.
In their present lives, they feel nothing but pain. Deprived of their own lives and oppressed by those around them, they either wear masks or are driven to the brink of madness. They now begin to fight for their lives. They struggle to break free from the oppression of these meaningless lives. Their determination to follow their true nature is expressed through same-sex kisses. All three women have lovers but have entered into unwanted marriages. The film concludes when they either follow the true nature of their lives or fulfill the conditions for the liberation of that nature—that is, by obtaining the lives they desired.
To fully grasp the structure within this narrative, one must understand Richard. Richard is the man connected to all three women. Richard is the character who ultimately meets his death in Virginia’s novel; he is Laura’s son and Clarissa’s lover. For Virginia, Richard is a poet of her imagination—though they never actually met—who embodied the fantasies she spoke of; for Laura, he was an obstacle blocking her path in life; and for Clarissa, he was the man who gave her a moment of beauty and, through his death, brought her an appreciation for the preciousness of life and the liberation of her true nature.
It is through this Richard that Laura and Clarissa meet. The three women and Virginia are thus part of an organically interconnected structure. Another key element in understanding this structure is the party. Virginia prepares a tea party for her nieces, Laura throws a birthday party for her husband, and Clarissa hosts a party for Richard.
Within a single day, the three women—who all suffer the same pain and oppression in their lives—show their gradual journey toward finding the life true to their nature. The film’s structure is built using cross-cutting techniques to interweave the days of these three women from different eras—each representing a different stage of life—through the connections of Virginia’s novel, the parties, and Richard. The flowers that constantly appear in the background throughout the film are related to the theme.
First, what is the film trying to convey through this structure? I believe it aims to show that a life lived in pretense—a life that is not what one truly desires—is meaningless, and to emphasize the importance of that fleeting sense of happiness. Within this theme, flowers serve as a meaningful backdrop and motif.
In ‘The Hours’, which explores the fragile flip side of life and the theme of death, the flowers that appear ceaselessly seem to eloquently speak of a radiant moment transported into eternity—even amidst the relentless ebb and flow of time—and of the passion that made that moment possible. Though utterly fragile and lacking the strength to endure beyond their peak bloom, a flower’s reason for existence lies in that single moment forged by passion. Perhaps we, too, have such radiant moments that briefly transport this otherwise unremarkable life into eternity. That may well be the very reason we cannot give up.

Analysis of Key Connecting Frames in a Scene: The Scene with Virginia Woolf and Her Sister

The relationship between Virginia and her sister can be understood through the distance and gazes of the two characters, as well as the frame’s position, shot size, and camera angle.
In Frame ①, the camera is positioned at a distance from the two sisters. However, by using a long shot to convey a sense of harmony with the environment, the relationship between the sisters blends with the atmosphere of a beautiful garden, effectively revealing their intimacy.
Frame ② depicts the full-body figures of the two characters from a frontal perspective using a horizontal angle. Virginia’s dependent demeanor reinforces the sense of intimacy between the sisters established in Frame ①, and since the camera is positioned closer to the subjects than in Frame ①, it creates a focal point on the two characters.
Frame ③ features a close-up of the two characters’ faces, focusing on their conversation. Unlike the previous frames, Virginia does not rest her head against her sister, conveying a situation of equal dialogue rather than sisterly intimacy.
In Frames ④ and ⑤, the distance between the two sisters increases as Virginia moves away. Whereas the previous frames were two-person shots, now only one character appears in the frame. The camera’s position in the middle of the two sisters allows the viewer to gauge the distance between them. This illustrates how the two sisters have grown apart due to conflict arising from their conversation. Frame ④ captures Virginia’s older sister from a high angle, showing her trying to comfort Virginia, while Frame ⑤, through a waist-level shot of Virginia and a horizontal angle, depicts her confidently voicing her dissatisfaction with the situation.
Frame ⑥ shows the arrival of Virginia’s older sister’s children and highlights the distance between the older sister and Virginia. As the camera zooms in on Virginia’s older sister and her children, Virginia is positioned farther from the camera and becomes part of the background. With a total of five people in the scene, the three figures in the foreground—captured in close-up—emphasize their closeness and harmony through their actions and the vibrant colors of their clothing. In contrast, Virginia’s loneliness and shabbiness are further accentuated by her position in the background of the frame and her plain-colored clothing.
In Frames ⑦ and ⑧, attention should be paid to the off-screen areas that Virginia’s older sister and Virginia are looking at. The off-screen area appearing in the frame featuring Virginia’s older sister—that is, the subject she is looking at and speaking to—is the children. The off-screen area Virginia is looking at is her older sister, who is focusing her attention on the children.
In Frame ⑧, Virginia’s intense gaze is conveyed through a frontal, horizontal angle, and this intensity is effectively highlighted by the solid, deep green background surrounding her. In Frame ⑦, the camera angle is positioned behind Virginia’s older sister, allowing the viewer to understand both the on-screen and off-screen areas where Virginia will appear later by following the direction of her gaze. Furthermore, by using backgrounds that are not primary colors, it creates a frame with a different feel from Frame ⑧—namely, a gentle atmosphere.

Analyzing the Sequence of Shots

In the frames above, Virginia’s solo shots begin as the other characters who appeared earlier fade out. The single-character shot conveys a sense of solitude and loneliness, and the contrast with the voiceover from off-screen creates a tense atmosphere that suggests she is deep in thought.
The shot transitions from a wide shot to a close-up. Gradually, through close-ups, the distance between the camera and Virginia is reduced. By highlighting Virginia while eliminating the background, the audience’s focus is directed entirely toward her. As the shot transitions from a wide shot to a close-up, the camera moves in tandem with Virginia’s gaze.
In the final frame, the distance between the camera and Virginia becomes extremely close, and the camera’s perspective aligns with Virginia’s gaze. Just as Virginia lies on the slanted background, the camera adopts the same angle. Through this, the audience is drawn into Virginia’s gaze and contemplation; even when she isn’t speaking, viewers identify with her and feel as though they know what she’s thinking based on the context.
It’s also possible that the camera’s angle mirrors that of the bird with which Virginia identifies in this shot. That’s just my opinion—it might not be correct. The vibrant, primary-colored flower appearing right in the center of the frame further enhances the scene’s meaning through the contrast between Virginia—lying symmetrically around the flower—and the bird’s drab colors.

In-Depth Analysis of a Single Frame: Laura’s Party Scene

I applied another person’s mise-en-scène analysis to develop my own interpretation of the content.

Dominant Elements

The moment I first saw this scene, my eyes were drawn to the large floor lamp. Since the entire space is so dark and it is the brightest object in the frame, my gaze was immediately fixed there. Furthermore, the scene is dominated by Laura celebrating her husband’s birthday in a way that’s different from usual. Elements designed to portray a seemingly harmonious family life are predominant.

Lighting Key

The lighting in this frame contains symbolic and psychological elements intended to convey dramatic meaning. On her husband’s birthday, after ruining a birthday cake she was making with her son, Laura leaves her son in someone else’s care and attempts suicide. However, she changes her mind, returns home, and bakes a new cake to prepare for her husband’s birthday party.
Although a birthday party is typically associated with vibrant and bright imagery, this scene creates a dark atmosphere. Overall, there is a strong contrast in lighting, a reduction in light, and a pronounced difference between light and dark areas.
The child is fully illuminated, and the husband is seated facing the light. However, Laura stands with her back to the light. The fact that Laura’s face is not illuminated can be interpreted as expressing the anguish she felt when she was on the brink of death.

Shot Composition and Camera Distance

In this scene, the shot appears to be somewhere between a full shot and a long shot. The distance between the camera and the subjects is considerable, which keeps us emotionally neutral. The subjects’ full bodies are visible, and the shot presents a wide view of the space.
Because it shows both the entire party and the characters’ full bodies, it effectively highlights the dissonance within the same atmosphere. This dissonance serves to reveal the contrast between Laura’s inner and outer selves—specifically, the image she has created of herself that she does not truly want to project.

Angle

We and the camera are observing the subject neutrally. We are neither looking up at nor down upon the subject. This appears to be an attempt to conceal, as much as possible, the emotional fluctuations of Laura, who is celebrating her husband’s birthday as if nothing had happened despite her suicide attempt earlier that day. By viewing the subject from a slight distance, the camera aims to maintain a neutral stance.

Color Palette

Although it does not appear that any specific techniques were employed, the scene overall conveys a retro feel. It is characterized by a generally dark, brown-toned color palette. In other words, while the light in the center is brighter than the rest of the background, it is overwhelmed by the darkness of the surrounding area and fails to stand out. This creates an overall heavy atmosphere.
This heavy atmosphere contradicts the image of a birthday party, which should be cheerful. The color scheme effectively conveys Laura’s mental state.

Secondary Contrast

After seeing Laura smiling nonchalantly as if nothing were wrong, my attention was drawn to her husband’s face, which was beaming with joy; the child’s cheerful face; and the perfectly shaped cake celebrating her husband’s birthday.

Composition

The composition of this scene fundamentally follows the principles of realism, thereby creating a “plausible space.” The central part of the frame is occupied by the actors, who are the most important visual elements. However, because we are accustomed to expecting the most important visual information to always be placed in the center of the frame, objects placed there tend to lack dramatic impact.
Therefore, realist directors prefer central placement; in this scene as well, they use central placement—the most objective framing style—so that the audience can focus on the subject without being distracted by surrounding visual elements.
Additionally, the director uses a triangular composition—often considered the most stable composition—that extends from the husband to Laura, and then from the child to the empty chair on the right. This is believed to be intended to create a contrast by presenting the image of a harmonious family, which stands in stark contrast to Laura’s behavior earlier that day.

Form

Since the scene takes place inside a house, it adopts a closed form. The closed composition emphasizes a carefully crafted framing; while such footage may appear realistic at first glance, it hardly conveys the sense of a chance discovery—a hallmark of the open composition.
Objects and figures are arranged more precisely within the frame, and the balance of visual weight can be said to be meticulously calculated. I believe this closed frame represents the disconnected psychological state of Laura and her family.

Composition

The frame in this scene is tightly composed. The size of the space within the frame can be used symbolically. Generally, the closer the shot is taken, the more confined the subject appears.
In this scene as well, there is almost no space for the characters to move around, creating an atmosphere of isolation and suffocation. This seems to signify that Laura can no longer escape this household.

Depth

This scene can be said to consist of the space where the three characters are gathered on the left side of the dining table, the empty space on the right side of the table, and the background behind them. The sheer curtains in the foreground behind the characters represent femininity; I believe they symbolize the feminine qualities—as a wife and mother—that Laura must embody within this household.

Character Placement

The characters are generally positioned in the center of the frame but tend to be slightly shifted to the left. I believe this is intended to depict a family that appears normal on the surface but harbors underlying problems; the fact that Laura is the only one standing alone gives her the air of an outsider who cannot blend in with the other two figures.

Staged Poses

The husband sits alone to Laura’s right, facing the side, whereas Laura and her son face the same direction—that is, they are facing the camera head-on. Laura is looking toward us, and it appears that this technique is used to make her seem more approachable and familiar to us.
In contrast, the husband has turned his body to the side, which creates a much weaker sense of emotional connection than a frontal pose. He feels very distant. The director likely had them adopt this posture intentionally to ensure the audience focuses on Laura and no one else.

Proximity of Characters

Although Laura and her child are close to each other, we can see that Laura and her husband are relatively far apart. In other words, Laura and her child share an intimate social distance, while her husband is quite distant.

My Personal Interpretation

Let me offer my own interpretation of ‘The Hours’. As I mentioned earlier, the film seeks to convey the importance of living the life one truly desires, the need to escape a false existence, and the beauty of the moment. To highlight these themes, the film continuously intercuts between the three women for the audience to see.
In this film, I encountered five Mrs. Dalleways. Many people view Virginia Woolf, Laura, and Clarissa as protagonists who share common characteristics. I’d like to add two more to this list: Mrs. Dalleway and Richard, who appear in Virginia’s novel.
Mrs. Dalleway needs no introduction, but Richard might require some explanation. The Mrs. Dallaways—that is, Mrs. Dallaway, Virginia, Laura, and Clarissa—all feel oppressed by the lives around them. They feel weighed down by certain obligations, struggle under the burden, and long to break free. Ultimately, they escape their burdens by leaving, by having the source of their bondage disappear, or by dying.
The same is true for Richard. These are the words Richard left for Clarissa before committing suicide.

“I’ve lived for you all this time, so please let me go in peace.”

While one could interpret this to have a deeper meaning, I believe it’s more accurate to take the words at face value. Richard has no reason to live. He simply clings to the shining memories of his 19-year-old self and wants only to remember the feelings of that moment, but he knows he can no longer experience that vivid sense of being alive in each passing moment.
In other words, Richard no longer has a reason to live, and he is well aware of this fact. He believes death might offer more freedom. As Virginia said, death could be the answer. Clarissa is holding Richard back from finding that answer. That hand holding him back is, for her, the oppression and burden of life itself.
Richard’s house is a space that embodies oppression itself. Richard throws trash into this dead space, but Clarissa always cleans it up. This act is difficult for her, and it is difficult for Richard as well. In other words, both Richard and Clarissa were Mrs. Dallaway, struggling to find their own freedom within the oppression of life.
This can also be seen in their dialogue. Clarissa is the one hosting the party. She says, “Of course I am.” Richard says, “Of course we have to go.” Both of them use the word “of course.” However, the truth that emerges later tells a different story.
Clarissa is exhausted from preparing for the party and angry at herself for being this way. Richard has no desire to go to the party. In the end, the party becomes a burden to both of them. Richard puts an end to this relationship, in which they are a burden to and oppress one another.
He tried to capture their memories and that moment—which they could never return to—in a book, but realizing that was impossible because the moment had already faded, he liberates both her and himself into a new life through death.
Virginia’s husband asks her why she always has to kill someone in her novels. Virginia replies, “To make the survivors realize the preciousness of life.” Richard and Clarissa fit this description perfectly.
Richard chose a living death over a dead reality, and through this, Clarissa chose a life of freedom over a reality as bleak as death. This raises a question. Was this new life Clarissa gained given to her by Richard? Or did she choose it herself?
Although it appears that Richard gave her a new life, I can’t help but wonder if, after their struggle for life, they both ultimately chose victory.
In the scenes where Clarissa enters and exits Richard’s house, the camera always frames her passing through a black door to show her inside the elevator. In those scenes, the camera frames the background to make it seem as though Clarissa is standing amidst cold, lifeless surroundings, much like a prison cell. This likely symbolizes her life.
Yet even within such settings, she is not devoid of vitality. In other words, she dreams of a new life free from oppression. Richard, set against a lifeless backdrop, appears dead himself. He is shown as having lost his vitality, living a life akin to death.
Yet, before he dies, he tears down all the obstacles blocking the sunlight. It is a struggle for life. Paradoxically, he gains life through death. In Richard’s final moments, though his body was frail and shabby, his face seemed brighter than ever before.
Next, I’d like to offer my own interpretation regarding the concepts of the moment and eternity. Beautiful, fully bloomed flowers always appear in the film. These flowers are always in full bloom. They symbolize the moment of full bloom. Flowers bloom and wither, but the ones shown are always in full bloom.
In other words, couldn’t we say that moments come together to form eternity? Flowers in their moment of full bloom continue to come together to form eternity. Human life is the same. The film portrays the single day of the three women and Richard as if it were an entire lifetime. This one day is a moment. However, if only these moments are shown, this is eternity. Every moment becomes eternity.
It seems that contradictions, contrasts, and connections exist everywhere within this film. By contrasting the fully bloomed flowers with the women’s gloomy, drab clothing, the film likely sought to illustrate life and death, while also connecting the shared meaning between flowers and life.
I suspect the reason fully bloomed flowers appear so vividly throughout the film is not only to contrast them with the women’s withered lives but also to connect them through the commonalities with the fleeting moments of their own lives that will bloom later.

Comparing the Characters as I See Fit

As shown in the table above, these three women share common elements and differences. It’s clear they have many things in common. Therefore, they could be referred to as the “Four Mrs. Dalleways.”
However, Clarissa and Richard differ significantly from the other two. They are oppressed by the responsibilities they have placed upon each other, and unlike the other two women, they have already been openly expressing their homosexuality—which could be considered a key theme. In other words, their situation of being repressed in love might be less severe than that of the other two women. However, the oppression of their love is also entangled with the reality of AIDS.
It is difficult to view their own will as the factor that liberates them from this oppression. For Richard, it is resolved through his actions for Clarissa, and for Clarissa, it is resolved through Richard’s death.
Another question that arises concerns the meaning of Laura’s life. Her life is liberated by finding a new life for herself. However, this clearly affects her son, Richard. It raises the question: While her own life may have meaning, does it hold the same meaning for others?
The connections between them are incredibly organic. Virginia Woolf creates a novel that embodies her entire being, and Laura finds a new life through this novel. Laura’s quest for a new life unsettles Richard, and Richard meets Clarissa. Clarissa comes to be known as Mrs. Dalloway.
With Richard’s death, Clarissa gains the possibility of finding a life for herself and meets Laura, Richard’s mother. I feel that this structure is connected in a deeply organic way.