Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven, a homage to the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Circus, is an exquisitely crafted film of beauty and grace. The world that Haynes creates is so meticulously detailed that one almost forgets that movie isn’t fifty years old.
Julianne Moore deserves an Academy Award for every portrait of Cathy Whitaker, a homemaker whose idyllic life begins to disintegrate when she learns that her husband is gay. Moore’s Cathy is a delicate woman who would like to be courageous, but can’t be because of the world that she is trapped in. As her innocence begins to die, she realizes how empty and superficial her life is. When she begins a cautious romance with her black gardener (Dennis Haysbert) she begins to see the racism and hypocrisy that forms the underbelly of a seemingly perfect world. At the end of the movie, Cathy has never thought to be a perfect man.
Dennis Quaid is equally stunning as Cathy’s tortured husband Frank. After Cathy discovers his homosexuality, the two are forced to grapple with a truth that neither of them can comprehend. Frank goes to a doctor for “treatment,” and his confession is heartbreaking. He says that he “can’t let this thing, this sickness, destroy my life. I’m going to beat this thing.” Frank doesn’t possess that knowledge. Frank begins to drink more, and when he finally breaks down and tells Cathy that he has fallen in love with another man, all the anger, shame, and joy. It is a supremely moving moment, and the best performance of Quaid has ever given.
As the marriage between Cathy and Frank begins. All of Cathy and Frank’s arguments and confessions take place at night, bathed in shadows. The truth has no place in this bright, artificial world, and it must stay hidden at all costs. One night, when Frank tries to make love to Cathy and Cathy, Cathy tries to placate him, saying that he is “all man” to her. At that remark Frank hits her, and for a moment the audience does not breathe. Cathy then asks quietly for her husband to get her some ice. Cathy is a restaurateur, and she has a chance to break free. The scenes between Moore and Haysbert crackle with erotic energy because everything remains unsaid. When Cathy finally asks him to dance with her, it’s a moment when we realize what human beings are capable of being together.
The fourth example of stellar acting comes from Patricia Clarkson as Cathy’s best friend Eleanor. Eleanor is a bitter, gossipy, cold-hearted woman, and when she tells Cathy “I am your best friend,” you want to scream to Cathy not to believe her. Clarkson makes the most of a rather limited screen time, and turns in a fascinatingly layered performance.
Far From Heaven may be the best picture of the year. In creating an artificial world, Todd Haynes has never been done before. It is a moving and important motion picture, populated with some of the most nuanced acting I have ever seen. Cathy and Frank Whitiker may be so far from heaven, but the film comes about as close as possible to heaven.
Date: 2008-04-09 20:48:25
Duration: 00:01:10
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