Far From Heaven (2002)
Directed by: Todd Haynes.
Written by: Todd Haynes.
Starring: Julianne Moore (Cathy
Whitaker), Dennis Quaid (Frank Whitaker), Dennis Haysbert (Raymond Deagan), Patricia
Clarkson (Eleanor Fine), Viola Davis (Sybil), James Rebhorn (Dr. Bowman), Bette
Henritze (Mrs. Leacock), Michael Gaston (Stan Fine), Ryan Ward (David
Whitaker), Lindsay Andretta (Janice Whitaker), Jordan Puryear (Sarah Deagan), Kyle
Timothy Smith (Billy Hutchinson), Celia Weston (Mona Lauder).
If Todd Haynes Far From Heaven
was nothing more than an homage of the 1950s Douglas Sirk melodramas that so
clearly inspired it, it would still be a great film. As is usual with Haynes,
he pays meticulous attention to detail, and along with cinematographer Edward
Lachman (marking their first collaboration together – Haynes has yet to use a
different cinematographer since) – has stunningly re-created the look of those
films to a T. The bright, bold, garish colors, the people always dressed up, no
matter the time of day or night, the seemingly perfect suburbia, that is
actually filled with decay. The dialogue that is sometimes shockingly on the
nose, and the performances that do not try for naturalism – for a sort of
heightened reality. There isn’t a trick that Haynes and company miss in Far
From Heaven. In many ways, what Haynes has done in Far From Heaven is make an almost
exact replica of those Sirk films – except he has made one that is far more
explicit than Sirk ever could have dreamed of making. While Sirk’s films would
always hint at topics like homosexuality and inter-racial romance – in ways
that seem obvious today, but somehow slide by many when they were made –
Haynes’ film deals with them directly. This, by itself, would make Far From
Heaven a wonderful film. But it’s only part of what makes it, ultimately, a
masterwork.
The film stars Julianne Moore
as Cathy Whitaker – a happy housewife in 1957 Connecticut – with two perfect
children (a boy and a girl, naturally) and a perfect husband, Frank (Dennis
Quaid), who goes off to work in advertising, and comes home to picture perfect
vision of domestic tranquility that Cathy has made for him. They have been used
as the couple in some of his ads, and there is even a magazine piece being
written about how perfect their life is. In the early scenes in the movie,
everything seems perfect – yes, she does have to tell the children to watch
their language when her son as “Jeez” – but, you know, boys will be boys. But
gradually, we start to get hints that perhaps not everything is quite so
perfect. At a get together with her girlfriend – over daiquiris – the women
cannot help but giggle, and whisper when talking about how often their husbands
insist on “it” – and a look of confusion momentarily comes across Cathy’s face,
before she puts back up the mask of fake happiness. We soon realize why – as
Haynes follows Frank through the shadows of the night, as he enters a movie
theater by himself, and watches as men head off together into the balcony – and
then when he stops in at a bar, frequented only by men, all of whom give him
the side-eye, sizing him up. The domestic perfection is broken, once and for
all, one evening when Cathy goes to see Frank at the office – to bring him his
dinner, since he has to work late, and discovers that he is not alone. Frank
confesses his transgressions – but vows to “beat this thing” and heads off to
the doctor. Unable to talk to any of her friends about her true feelings, Cathy
finds herself spending more time in the company of Raymond Deagan (Dennis
Haysbert) – her black gardener, and a kind, thoughtful and gentle man. When the
magazine profile comes out, and it mentions that Cathy is “kind to negroes” all
of her friends giggle and treat it as a joke. As she is seen more and more
often in his company, it ceases to be a laughing matter.
There are many things that make
Far From Heaven work – the meticulous craft being one of them, especially the
beautiful cinematography of Edward Lachman, and the score by Elmer Bernstein,
who brilliantly recreates the score of the era. The art direction and costume
design are also perfect – not perfect in the way that is accurately reflects
the 1950s, but perfect in the way it accurately reflects the art direction and
costume design of the 1950s. The performances here are crucial as well. I often
get annoyed when performances are called “brave” – especially when it just
means that straight actors played gay characters (which isn’t brave) – but the
performances here really are brave. The actors in Far From Heaven really risked
looking like fools, trying to recreate an acting style that had been out of
fashion for decades before they even started acting. Not only that, but there
is a real danger that in recreating that acting style, even if they got the
surface level correct, that they would miss the emotional underpinnings of the
material. That makes it all the more impressive that the actors are able to
make these characters seem real even under the deliberate artifice of the
surface. Moore’s performance here is a masterclass in subtlety – as for the
entirety of the movie, her character tries to keep on the mask of fake
happiness, but lets it slip occasionally, when she is confronted with the
reality of her situation. In the one moment that Haynes truly breaks from the
dialogue of the 1950s – and Frank says “Fuck” – the look of Moore’s face is as
if she has been slapped – the shock, and hurt and dismay is written there, even
more than when, later in the film, Frank actually does hit her. Then there are
moments – when she is with Ray – when she is happy, and it’s a slightly
different look than her fake mask of happiness – it’s genuine. It is a stunning
and brilliant performance – equal to the best work of her career. For his part,
Quaid is able to the play the square jawed, Ward Cleaver part to perfection,
but again, he lets his mask slip – to allow the audience to see how frightened
and insecure he is. Quaid has never been better. Haysbert seems to have the
easiest role of the three – the Rock Hudson role as it were (Hudson often
starred as the portrait of male perfection for Sirk) – but it cannot be easy
not to appear completely stiff in a role like this, and Haysbert pulls it off
brilliantly. Add in great support from Patricia Clarkson – as Cathy’s best
friend, whose liberal leanings have their limits, and Viola Davis, as Cathy’s
maid, who sees more than she lets on, and you have one of the best ensembles
you could ask for.
On its surface level then, Far
From Heaven is brilliant – a masterful homage to Douglas Sirk, that is actually
better than anything Douglas Sirk ever made (and I love Douglas Sirk). But I
also think that Far From Heaven does do some things that run a little deeper
than Sirk. This is a film that begins with absolute artifice, and then delves
beneath that surface a little bit, before ending up back at the level of
artifice again at the end. The film’s ending could hardly be described as
happy, although it almost seems that way. Also, I find it fascinating that
Haynes opts to stay with Cathy’s point-of-view throughout the film. Haynes is a
gay after all, and yet in his study of homosexuality in the 1950s, he elects to
stay focused on the more passive role of the wife, rather than the man fighting
against what society has convinced him is evil. Like in Safe, where Haynes
introduces a supposedly gay character (Peter), who we think may be a savior,
and then turns him into a villain (maybe?), it’s a subversion of expectations –
keeping our sympathy with Cathy, instead of Frank, that is a fascinating
choice. This is also, strangely, a film I find far more sexual and erotic than
Haynes’ previous films – which are much more frank in their depiction of
sexuality than this one is (up until Carol, which is one of the most erotically
charged movies ever made). There is an undercurrent of sexual energy in Far
From Heaven which is hard to pin down, but is most definitely present.
In short, Far From Heaven is a
masterpiece. I loved the film when I saw it back in 2002 – but perhaps I didn’t
quite understand just how good it was. Watching it for the first time in
perhaps a decade, I was stunned by how great it is. An absolutely exquisite
film.
No comments:
Post a Comment