Carol Movie Blurb by Shale January 18, 2016 It has been 10 days since I went to a movie. The weather has been rainy ever other day during that time and on the good weather days I had other places to bike. But, on a couple of occasions friends asked me if I had seen this movie, so I checked it out and the dramatic theme seemed interesting to me and very similar to a 2002 movie Far From Heaven, which was written and directed by Todd Haynes, who also directed this one. Both movies explore forbidden love in the 1950s U.S. So, I went to check it out. Therese (Rooney Mara) is an aspiring fotografer and temp Christmas worker at a department store in 1951. She is going thru confusing times, having difficulties relating to her boyfriend and other close male friends who make passes at her. Therese the Fotog The movie titular character, Carol (Cate Blanchett) is a married woman with a young daughter and is in the process of divorcing her inattentive husband. She is shopping for a present for her daughter when she meets Therese who is immediately intrigued by her. Carol & Therese Meet Carol is a more experienced woman and has had a brief fling with one of her close female friends years ago, which her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) knows about, making him distrustful. Carol makes her purchase but leaves her gloves on the counter. Therese returns them to her and to thank her Carol invites her to lunch. The two women continue to be enamored of each other and make plans to spend more time together. Carol & Therese Get Closer Carol's husband comes home unexpectedly and is very suspicious of the young woman visiting his wife. He makes threats to take custody of their child in the divorce because of the immorality of his wife. Therese Comforts Carol The court proceedings will not happen until after the holidays, so Carol takes a road trip with Therese to get away and the two women develop a more intimate relationship, which you know will complicate the divorce in those times. This movie was set in my childhood, so it probably has more interest to me than someone younger. The setting and props (clothes, furnishings and cars) were familiar to me. It was nice to sit a while in my youth, glad that I did not have to breathe all that ambient tobacco smoke that choked me as a child. But, my post-war affluent time had dark secrets of which I was not aware as a child. Such as the bigotry against homosexuals in the1950s or the legal persecution that they endured, much of which remained into this century (and still being pushed by the bigots). I'm glad that I was a part of the wave of baby-boomer counter-culture that brot these secrets into the light and forced more acceptance in the late '60s. I enjoyed the movie as did 94% of the aggregate critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 77% of audiences. I might add in light of the current controversy, that if this movie has any Academy Award considerations it will not be for black actors. Unless there is a category for the "Non-Speaking Walk On" by the only two black ppl in the entire movie, a couple walking down a NY sidewalk. It was 1952 United States. Everyone smoked cigarettes and blacks and whites were segregated.
Yes. Great film. Brokeback Mountain for girls. I'm not being facetious. The forbidden love stories told well are always the best ones. I suppose 'forbidden' is a grey scale. In the society depicted, gay couples were the most possible verboten. I watched this movie yesterday. Carol is the perfect movie. The last scene is poignant and unforgettable))
