Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Carol (2015)

3/20/2016

Carol (2015) - Haynes' romance adaptation is a triumph

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Adaptation of the Year
+ Best Romance of the Year

The nearly eatable poster for Todd Haynes' Carol

Carol is the 6th feature from master Los Angeles filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven (2002)), a long in the works and highly anticipated adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking novel The Price of Salt (1952), (later re-titled Carol), written by Oscar-nominee Phyllis Nagy (Mrs. Harris (2005)). It might be the best Highsmith adaptation to date.

Therese is a young woman working in a department store in New York in 1952, when she meets the older woman Carol, who is in the middle of a difficult divorce, and the two fall in love.

Carol is a magnificent film and a first class adaptation, a simply delicious love story that is impeccably accomplished in every aspect. It is curious that two of 2015's best films thus turn out to be spirited romances set in New York in nearly the same period, about young women working in department stores. (The other film, of course, being Brooklyn.)
I first imagined I saw Oscar-nominee Cate Blanchett (Truth (2015)) channeling Joan Crawford here, (which wouldn't have been a bad role-model to channel at all), but I don't think she does. Carol is all her, and she displays a remarkable balance between strength and touching vulnerability in the empowering role. Young Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara (Side Effects (2013)) cements herself as one of the most gifted young actresses around today beside her, and you'll catch yourself falling for her waif-like sweetness in Carol, where she resembles Audrey Hepburn quite a lot. There's a powerful, universal humanity to their relationship in the film that makes it soar and touch us, and perhaps remind some audience members of their lives' past romances.

Rooney Mara is stunning in Todd Haynes' Carol

The structure of the film pays homage to David Lean's great Brief Encounter (1945). The romance is cute SPOILER and platonic for very long, - I was nearly beginning to worry, - but once sex finally enters, it is elegant and tenderly depicted.
The production design, Oscar-nominated costumes, hair, makeup and visual concept, presenting a big palette of strong foundational colors, is striking and sumptuous as could be expected from the maker of the equally delicious, if colder Far from Heaven. It is shot by Oscar-nominee Edward Lachman (I'm Not There. (2007)) on 16 mm film and plays with obscuring its images through reflections, glass etc., which only heightens the sensuous rendition of the story. Oscar-nominee Carter Burwell's (Mr. Holmes (2015)) score is poignant, if not quite as masterful as Elmer Bernstein's (The Shootist (1976)) classical Far from Heaven score.
The supporting cast is superb: Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave (2013)), John Magaro (The Big Short (2015)) and Jake Lacy (Obvious Child (2014)) all bring strong portrayals, and Kyle Chandler (King Kong (2005)) is spectacular as Carol's husband, a desperate and miserable husband and father, who - through Chandler's empathic performance - comes to be more than the monster he otherwise might have been. He is an imperfect man who acts in a time of bigotry and darkness.
Carol is a film you shouldn't for anything miss seeing in a cinema. A rare treat that is bound to live on.

Related posts:

Todd Haynes: Top 10: Best gay-themed titles

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Mildred Pierce (2011, miniseries) - Haynes' spin on the Cain classic is a luxury

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 11.8 mil. $
Box office: 40.3 mil. $
= Box office success
[Carol premiered May 17 (in competition in Cannes) and runs 118 minutes. Development of an adaptation had been active since at least 1996 and made impossible until now due to lack of willing financiers, scheduling difficulties (a long line of directors have been involved before Haynes assumed the job), rights issues as well as Nagy's stubborn and laudable insistence that the film SPOILER not be turned into a tragical gay story, - which have accounted for most of the major gay stories that have previously attracted the interest of the mainstream. Shooting lasted 34 days in March - April 2014 in Ohio and Kentucky, with 7 months of post in NY. Carol's wide-release, in just 780 theaters, opening weekend came in #15 with 1.4 mil. $ in North America, where it has grossed 12.6 mil. $ (32.3 % of the total gross.) Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 3.9 mil. $ (10 %) and France with 2.3 mil. $ (5.9 %). The film received a ten minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, where it won the Queer Palm Award, and Mara tied Best Actress with Emmanuelle Bercot of Mon Roi. At the Oscars, the film was nominated 6 times, but went home empty-handed, sorely overlooked. There was also controversy over its being left out of the Best Film and Best Director categories. Carol has rated high on countless Top 10 lists of the year and won scores of awards around the world. Carol is certified fresh at 93 % with a 8.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Carol?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

3/20/2016

Carol (2015) - Haynes' romance adaptation is a triumph

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