Carol 2015

I don't see this movie in the glowing light of others in this comment section, but I absolutely adored it for many of its subtle attributes. Mainly, I was taken by this movies for delicate approach to such a love story. Time is taken to watch these two different people at completely opposite stages of their life collide and spiral down the rabbit hole of love. It's never played to tantalise or spur the audience, we just see the love of these two people unfold before us, and that is refreshing to see in an industry where sex sells and is usually the headline act. Production is also wonderful, with the 50s captured beautifully with the use of 16mm film and the grain it affords.
All that being said, it never transcended to excellency for me. There are some great monologues from our two main stars that will be infinitely quoted for years to come, but I never really felt a personal connection between the people on screen and myself. In an attempt to leave things unsaid, I feel the movie felt a little sterile and distant, possibly leaving far too much to the interpretation of the audience and their own self-insertion. Nonetheless, still a great film that kept me enveloped from start to finish, even if the main captivation was due to the beauty of the film itself.

What is the nature of love? If you strip it of our ingrained, fetishized, idealized notions that religion, society, our own upbringing, (good or bad) with all of the Hallmark card sentiment, absent class, race, identity politics, and aggrandizing alphabetical branding, isn't love just two people who meet, and know they want to be together, sometimes in utter disregard of what everyone else thinks?

If you're looking for some sort of lurid, sensational, over the top depiction of a lesbian romance, this ISN'T your movie. Actually, you could make the protagonists in Carol a mixed race couple in the 50's, or two people from "different sides of the tracks", or different cultural backgrounds, and it would still be a compelling story. But, the fact that these two people fall (HARD) for each other in a time that was SO repressed that there wasn't even the faintest notion that this was a legitimate possibility, and, in Rooney Mara's characters case, not even really having the vocabulary to express what she was feeling, but just knowing she was indeed feeling it, makes for a compelling watch.

...And then of course there is Cate Blanchett..., that normally would be "nuff said", but, here, she is in full Grace Kelly mode, exuding an elegance and style, yet, with an undertone of ferocity that almost gives one pause. It is understandable why both men and women could fall for her. She and Rooney are a marvel to watch, even in their stillest moments. They can do more with a a tilt of the head, a smile, or a tremble, than many actors could with an entire page of dialog.

Sara Paulson is steadying force for both characters, and adds a lot with the few scenes she has, as does Kyle Chandler as the soon to be ex husband, still in love, but having to come to grips with a wife that it turns out, is "that sort of woman". And there's no one to help him with that.

Gorgeously shot on super 16 film stock to give it a period grittiness, with sets and costumes that add to the production without making it a kitschy "period piece", Carol is a story about love lost, love found, and love rediscovered, no politics necessary.

"I don't know what I want. How could I know what I want if I say yes to everything?".

Carol is set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk dreams of a better life for himself and finds himself falling for an older, married woman.

Before Carol was even release, it had a lot of Oscar talk with the two main leads and the story itself. It's one of those period piece movies that people start talking about how many awards it's going to win (It's mostly Gold Derby predictions) and not actually talking about the movie itself, only the awards and it's quite sad when I think about it. But all that a side, I've been anticipating Carol for awhile now, just because of the two main stars and the beautiful teaser trailer that got me interested in seeing it. And after seeing Carol I am lost with words right now, I mean wow. It's without a doubt the best movie of the year.

Cate Blanchett continues to amaze me and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. Shes tremendous in everything movie I've seen her in and in Carol she amazed me even more. Blanchett was absolutely phenomenal in this movie as she delivered such a powerful performance. It's by far her best performance and movie (In my personal opinion). I basically ran out of things to say about her, since I always say the same good things about her performance. I think sometimes things are too brilliant to be put into words and it's best to be watched.

Rooney Mara has come along way, because if you look at her track record of all the movies shes been in. She can star in a bad movie like the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and then later appear in The Social Network. Same thing can be said this year as she was in "Pan" which was a massive piece of crap and she was so bad in that movie, but not here, because Mara gives a stunning and brilliant performance. Mara and Blanchett both deliver a stellar performance and both of them had great chemistry, I mean it was really touching and quite beautiful to watch.

With a movie like this you would think the romance between the two would be overly sloppy or repetitive like some romantic movies, but not this one. There's only a few scenes in this movie where one of them say "I love you" but that's it and it's never repeated. The thing I love about this movie is that the romance didn't feel force or cliche. The one thing I can't stand in romance movies is where the two lovers talk about how much they love each other and why they love each other, I mean screenwriting like that is just the worse, but Carol avoids all that and goes for a creative way of showing the romance that's best to be seen and felt. There's a scene in this movie that's personally my favorite scene of this year so far, and that's when the two of them are in the car going through a highway tunnel. Then we get to see Rooney Mara character (Therese) point of view as she looks at Carol and you as an audience member get to see what makes Carol so special in Therese's eyes. The scene itself has no dialogue, it was beautifully shot and it's short but wonderful. It may not mean a lot to some people but to me it dose and I wish we had more film making like this, because it's an original and brilliant way of showing human connection, I mean it's much better than the character's repeatedly saying "I love you" to each other.

Todd Haynes did an excellent job directing this movie. Everything that a good director should do in movies is what Todd Haynes dose here. He's the glue to all of this and he brilliantly crafted such a powerful film.

The cinematography in the movie was magnificent as it had the perfect shots that fitted the story really well. The art direction, the costumes, and the writing were flawless.

Now for the flaws: My only flaw in this movie has to be that some of the supporting characters were pretty forgettable and could have easily be cut out of the movie.

Overall Carol is a beautifully crafted movie that tells an emotional story that's so nailed down to reality. It's a movie worth seeing if you haven't checked it out yet.