A 'Grey' matter

Has anyone seen "Grey Gardens"? I read about it recently, and we borrowed it from the library. It's a 1976 documentary (released on DVD in 2001) about "Big" Edie Beale, an aunt of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and her daughter, "Little" Edie Beale. Michael and I were intrigued but perplexed by it. Apparently it got smashing reviews upon its release and has had a cult following ever since. Fashion designers and others talk of the influence of this film on their work. As far as we could tell, it was little more than a home movie of a couple of crazy ladies in their crumbling East Hampton mansion. We kept watching because we hoped for background of some sort, but all we got were more song and dance routines than we could stand.

Both women were high society back in their day -- the old photos are proof of that. But the movie never explains why they seemingly went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, why they never leave the house, what happened to Big Edie's other kids and why Little Edie has no hair or eyebrows (illness? neurotic pulling and plucking?).

We didn't understand all the hubbub over the movie (there's a Web fan site devoted to it, a musical, and a movie next year that will star Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as mother and daughter) since nothing's ever explained. Maybe the women were bigger than life at the time and people knew their back story, but we felt cheated out of any details. I haven't been able to find anything much online beyond the obvious. So if anyone has any insights, would love to hear them. We were compelled by the story but just felt like we didn't learn much about the women. Even the DVD extras offer nothing helpful.