Review of Carol (1990) by Grant S — 25 Jan 2017

New York, 1950s. Carol Aird is long-separated from her husband, Harge. Their daughter lives with Carol. Harge keeps trying to win Carol back but to no avail. Then one day Carol meets Therese Belivet and is immediately attracted to her. A relationship develops and they fall in love. However, things get complicated when Harge finds out about the relationship and sues for divorce, using the relationship as leverage to win custody of their daughter.

Aesthetically pleasing but not very substantial. There's a great style and sensitivity to the film. The fact that the love story is about a lesbian relationship in the 1950s could have been used to turn the movie into something for shock value, or try to go over old ground in terms of social mores, tolerance or civil rights. However, director Todd Haynes steers clear of these obvious detours and pitfalls and makes it into a classy love story.

While this is a good thing initially, it doesn't help the movie in the long term. In the end it is pretty much a standard love story, just with the two main characters being women. There's really nothing profound nor special about it.

Can't fault the performances though. Cate Blanchett, as Carol, puts in her usual excellent performance, and got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her efforts. The surprise performance comes from Rooney Mara as Therese. I always thought of her as acting in tough, action-girl sorts of roles (maybe because she starred in the US version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), but here she gives an excellent performance in a dramatic role, showing great vulnerability and range. The performance earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.