Film No. 84 (2015) November 25th. 6.30 PM BACKLOT Boutique Cinema West Perth.
"I can't help you with that" (The pitiful response from Carol's good friend Abby to Harge Aird after he admits his love for his wife).
Cate Blanchette plays Carol to perfection in this brilliant portrayal of love of a kind frowned upon in a society where ones standing in life is all important. And while Blanchette does what comes naturally, Rooney Mara as Carol's lover, Therese, puts on a mini masterclass of her own. The film is a must see for many reasons but the radiance beamed out by Mara and Blanchette is the highlight.
Films adapted from novels, especially if the novel is a best seller, can be fraught with danger. Carol is adapted from a lesser known Patricia Highsmith novel The Price of Salt and the movie, in the hands of Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) will probably generate a surge in sales of the simply written book.
Carol Aird is married to Harge (Kyle Chandler), a man desperately in love but of no mind to understand Carol's needs. They are extremely wealthy thus Carol has time and money aplenty to spend which is how she comes to lay eyes on Therese. Their first meeting in the department store where Therese works is full of electricity. Carol, enamoured by Therese leaves her gloves in the store for her to find. Carol is testing the waters, somehow knowing that Therese may be discovering for the first time her feelings of attraction to another woman.
Director Haynes has an eye for portraying women enduring the encumbrance of men in times when women knew their place and in most cases that place was to please their man. This time he's taken a book which is told from Therese's POV and readjusted our view of Carol. He does it with subtle, gentle images and while Carol is stricter on Therese as her elder in the book, we are led to have a more compassionate view of her here. Carol is a costume melodrama of real quality. 9GUMS.
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