Review - Carol

Carol is beautiful, elegant piece of art but unfortunately lacks dramatic conflict.

Carol perfectly captures the 1950s Manhattan, with its detailed set design and marvelous costumes.

 "You're my angel. Flung out of space", remarks Carol Aird during film's most intimate scene. Therese and Carol are having an affair in 1950s America, where the words "gay" and "lesbian" were not even common. Rightfully so, the pair was indeed flung out of space, in the extremely hetero-normative and stringent society. Director Todd Haynes' Carol, however, does not tackles the issue of sexual orientation or social stigmas - but instead, it tackles on something much more universal - love. And unfortunately, this approach is the film's both boon and bane.

Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), who is in her early 20's and Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), a glamorous older woman who is to divorce her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler), meet at a toy store during Christmas. Love at first sight and so it happens. Therese and Carol immediately form a connect, their eyes spark with unspoken allurement. Therese, new to her own feelings and desires, plays shy and coy, while Carol, a mature player, unabashedly flirts under the permissible limits of the homophobic society. Some few meetings and an excursion to the American West, the pair falls in love. But Carol's "immoral behavior" and its impact on her daughter's custody looms like a constant peril over the relationship.

Both Blanchett and Mara are at the top of their game. Blanchett's little hand movements, shift of eyes and subtle body-language is something to behold. Her performance glows with elegance and class. Without a sight of naked flesh, she dazzles with the aura of an ethereal seductress. Mara on the other hand, gives a more humanly and realistic touch to her character. She plays Therese with much required naivety and innocent. More often than not, it is Mara who steals the show with her newly discovered self, giving the film much required (and lacking) dramatic conflict.

Carol is a thing of beauty. It is graceful and dazzling with visual sheen. The holiday season, decorations and lights, Christmas songs on the radio, crowded restaurants and snow falling on the streets of Manhattan are so vividly shot that you are transported to the film's settings instantaneously. The meticulously detailed production design, pitch perfect costumes by Sandy Powell and the lush, glowing cinematography by Edward Lachman are worth thousand accolades. Carter Burwell's score, with wonderful use of strings and oboe, is melodious and captivating.

But what Carol suffers from, is its subtleness and lack of narrative heft. Haynes never focuses on the turmoils of being a homosexual during 1950s. Instead, he mostly devotes himself capturing the limited perspective of two people in love, which ultimately causes a lack of dramatic conflict. The film plays more like "In Mood For Love" than "Brokeback Mountain", which is never-the-less not a bad thing at all. Carol shines with its elegance and powerful leads, but it could have been so much more.

3.5/5