Review of Carol (2015) by Karen H — 30 Sep 2017

Todd Haynes understands the 50's. As a child of the movies I loved those epic romances with the swelling music, beautiful camera work, stunning fashions, and actresses that were often the object of adolescent crushes. Who can ever forget movies like On the Terrace with Newman and Woodward, or a Liz Taylor, Monty Cliff film, or.... The list goes on and on.

The problem with those films is gay men were portrayed as extremely effeminate while lesbians were portrayed as manly, frequently homely, always wearing tweed. Members of the LGBT community were never the leading characters in a film unless they were completely mentally unstable or killers. So it was an utter pleasure to watch two very feminine, beautiful women fall in love on screen. Carol captures the essence of romantic love between two people and in this case the two people happen to be women.

Haynes directing does credit to the Patricia Highsmith classic 1953 novel The Price of Salt, a book she wrote under a pseudo name, and in time became a best seller. The fifties culture was not kind to girls that developed crushes on other girls. Watching The Rooney Mora character, Therese, a burgeoning photographer and store clerk try to fit in to the world around her is as painful to watch as is the joy of watching her connect with Cate Blanchett's Carol, the upper class soon to be ex-wife and ex-procession of Harge played by Kyle Chandler. As in all movies of the fifties we are rooting for our two heroines to come out on top only to feel the pain of the compromise that must be made in order for them to be whole.

Carol, a breakthrough movie, is beautifully acted, directed and produced.