In 1952 Manhattan, Therese (Rooney Mara) has started a temporary
job at Frankenberg’s department store where she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett) a glamorous and
alluring woman looking for Christmas gifts for her daughter. After the transaction, Carol leaves her
gloves behind leading to Therese finding her address and send them back to her. Out of gratitude Carol invites her to lunch
where they become increasingly closer
Therese is trying to skirt the issue of
marriage with her boring boyfriend Richard (Jake Lacy). Meanwhile, Carol is in the middle of a
custody battle with her neglectful husband Harge (Kyle Chandler), who is using an affair Carol had with her friend
Abby (Sarah Paulson) as proof of her
incapacity for motherhood. To escape
their personal lives, they head out west for a road trip…
The tender chemistry between Blanchett
and Mara presented against the backdrop of hostile 1950s America makes Carol one of the most beautiful love
stories of the year. Simple moments such
as Therese taking candid photographs of Carol buying a Christmas tree, or Carol
watching Therese play the piano take on great importance and hold deep sexual
tension. Cinematographer Edward Lechman has a long history of
photographing strong compelling women (such as Erin Brokovich, The Virgin
Suicides and Todd Haynes’ earlier I’m
Not There and Far From Heaven)
and throughout Carol many of his
frames of Therese and Carol’s warm glances are stunning and could be hung in
galleries.
The recurring and expanding piano
/ string refrain from Carter Burwell
is hauntingly beautiful and layers moments in the narrative with a sadness that
foreshadows the inevitable difficulty of their relationship. The upbeat diegetic jazz music playing in the
bars and cafes that the characters frequent is juxtaposed with the more
mournful and apprehensive theme that haunts the two women as their story
progresses.
Carol manages to show both the injustice of
being ‘outed’ as homosexual and the threat it can have on your family life
(Carol must see a psychoanalyst for her “morality”), but also the glamour that
gay New Yorkers were beginning to feel in the 1950s. Still out of sight but with a pride in their
own circles and social spaces, Carol has an allure of glamour and cachet
amongst Manhattan socialites.
The photography, costumes and locations
all wonderfully enhance the compelling and tragic story of Therese and Carol,
wonderfully performed by Blanchett and Mara.
Their happier moments out on the road or locked in motel rooms are heartwarming
highs. Yet at their low moments, not since Slint’s 1991 Good Morning, Captain have the words ‘I miss you’ crushed me so
hard…
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