"Carol"

Title: Carol
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer: Phyllis Nagy (screenplay), Patricia Highsmith (novel)
Category: Drama, Romance
Duration: 118 min
Rate: 

In a festival in which in almost the majority of the film presented, women were celebrated for their strength, will of power, soul and perseverance, Carol can be considered as a delicate tale about a woman ready to sacrifice love and herself for her family told by the woman left behind.

Set in the 1950, the story focuses on Therese, played by Rooney Mara, a young sales assistant with a strong passion for photography. Therese doesn't really know what she wants from her life. She is reserved, shy and it seems like she is constantly drifting around without a specific purpose. Her only constant is her passion for photography, but only few people support her dream and believe in her.

She is already trapped in a relationship. Her boyfriend wants to marry her, but she feels like she is not ready because she hasn't really lived or made any life experience in order to be ready to take that step.

Everything shifts abruptly when she sees for the first time Carol, Cate Blanchett. Carol is sophisticated, charming and sure of herself. Her elegance is almost unsettling for Therese, who is literally dumbstruck by her. However, Carol's life is not as easy as one might think and when both women embark on a deep and profound love affair, a relationship that had to be lived in the dark, nothing will be simple and perfect and both women will be deeply changed by this difficult relationship.

Among the many movies presented at the LFF, Carol is the most delicate one. The cinematography is elegant and almost glamorous. The colors and the scenography, that reminded me of The Talent of Mr Ripley, are warm and brilliant and it seems like around every character there is a glaze that highlights their features, making them seem unreal and perfect. 

However, Patricia Highsmith's character's are far from perfection and Phyllis Nagy, along with Todd Haynes, were able to capture the complexity and fragility of these two women. The camera, that can be considered as Therese's eyes, seems almost voyeuristic following Carol and focusing on her every detail and this characteristic is made even more evident through Therese's passion for photography.

The cast worked together brilliantly. Cate Blanchett was ethereal as Carol. Her body language along with the way in which she gave voice to Carol was spectacular to see, even though this wasn't one of my favorite performances of this talented actress. She was able to portray Carol's struggle and sacrifice perfectly. She understood her tenderness and strength completely giving justice to her character. 

What made it problematic for me to connect completely to this story was the fact that I could only see and feel the chemistry among the two main characters a handful of times. 

Rooney Mara is not among my favorite actresses and even though her interpretation of Therese was good in terms of showing her innocence and naïvity, I couldn't find her portray of this character truthful. Therese's growth is evident throughout the film, however, apart from the tender and passionate love scene between these two strong, but at the same time extremely fragile women, I couldn't see in her eyes the emotions and the deep love felt by Therese for Carol.

All in all Carol is a delicate movie that tells a story about two women finding solace and love in one another in a time in which same sex love wasn't accepted and it was seen as a sickness.

Till next time,

Fred

Here the Trailer: