Next up is a far more subtle, tasteful film in 2015’s Carol, from celebrated director Todd Haynes. This one follows the story of Therese (Rooney Mara), an aspiring young photographer who works in a New York department store in the run-up to Christmas 1952. There, she runs into the older, but beguiling customer Carol, tantalisingly portrayed by the ever-splendid Cate Blanchett. An unlikely friendship forms and things take an unexpected, saucy turn when uptight Therese realises she’s falling in love with the more carefree, liberated Carol.
It's a film all about sizzling sexual tension, longing glances, repressed feelings and love that dare not speak its name. Haynes’ film really explores what it must have been like to deal with being a lesbian or bisexual in early ‘50s America, when just admitting these feelings could see your children taken from you. Harsh. This is what’s happening with poor Carol – on the face of it, she’s got things under control, a confident wife of a successful businessman, coming across as supercool, assured and effortlessly sassy. Blanchett is typically awesome, like some otherworldly, sexy, ethereal force of nature. However, behind the scenes, her world is unravelling, with heartbroken hubby Harge (Kyle Chandler) deciding to divorce her and try to take custody of the kids, just in time for the holidays.
It's thought-provoking, as Harge is never really presented as a bad guy – he’s just a confused, devastated product of his time, distraught to realise the woman he loved has been living a lie. Chandler plays it well and I almost feel sympathetic, even when he’s playing dirty tricks, hiring investigators to gather dirt on his missus and her love life. It’s true, nobody really knew how to deal with difficult things like this back then, other than to lash out angrily. A film this reminds me of is Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach, another beautifully understated tale of lovers trying to deal with complex sexual issues in a time when there were no books or websites to tell people how to handle things.
So, though Therese seems happy enough dating a sweet boyfriend with plans to marry, one look at Carol sees her totally and confusingly smitten. Haynes’ filmatism is excellent, with neither woman ever really coming out and saying how they feel, but with their head-over-heels lovesickness being beautifully captured through suggestive glances, body language and little touches here and there. It's a film where something as simple as a hand on the shoulder can be as sexy as staring someone in the eye and shouting “Take me, now!”
The two strike up a friendship that, for the audience, turns into an agonising waiting game to see who will make the first move. It’s the sort of film that critics would describe as ‘sumptuous’ but, interestingly, I also find it all a bit obvious. It’s clear from frame one that this familiar tale of tragic, forbidden love isn’t going to end well for anyone. Still, it’s totally worth a watch just to witness Blanchett in full flow, being typically fabulous.
I enjoy that the joyous Christmas/New Year period is where Carol and Therese’s love affair blossoms, before things go tragically pear-shaped in the barren ‘hangover’ Winter months of January and February. Haynes’ 1950s yuletide Manhattan looks, yes, sumptuous and the period fashion in detail is wonderful without being too showy and ostentatious. The whole film is measuredly understated and classy.
The director is also clearly besotted with Mara’s gorgeous big eyes and pronounced eyebrows, with his camera lingering on her longingly throughout, though I do find her quite bland in this one. I understand it’s a tale of repressed feelings and stuff, but I feel I’d enjoy this more if she did more than just sit around looking like a lost puppy. Sadly, despite its gorgeousness, I end up finding this one a little underwhelming, but do enjoy how wonderfully festive it all feels right up until it turns proper depressing. It’s filled with beautiful decorations, cookies, shopgirls in Santa hats and montages of snowy NY scenes with ‘Silver Bells’ jingling away on the soundtrack as Therese fervently photographs Carol shopping for a Christmas tree. Lovely.
There’s something very elegant and cool about this vision of a 1950s holiday season, a time before the crass commercialisation really kicked in and, thankfully, the film ends on a slightly more hopeful and positive note than I had envisioned. I enjoy this one just fine.
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