Carol  2015
Dir. Todd Haynes.  From USA  Seen: Jan 16, 2016

An atmospheric period piece (well, 1950’s) beautifully directed by Todd Haynes (‘Far from Heaven’, and the excellent but little seen here TV mini series ‘Mildred Pierce’).

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are very good in a tight, somewhat suppressed screenplay. True, a lesbian relationship such as this in the socially rigid 1950’s needed to be suppressed from general view and this is evident in the mood of the film.

Somehow this mood of repression seemed to infect the screenplay to the extent that I came away feeling like something was missing – not sure what though.

The role of Carol is tailor-made for Cate Blanchett – she does glamour and sophistication very well and Rooney Mara brings a nice mix of naivety, confusion and intensity to the role of Therese and the chemistry between them is there. Although the older Carol is clearly presented as the predator and the young innocent Therese as the ‘victim’, at times I felt that Carol was as much the ‘victim’

Production design by Judy Becker (BAFTA nominee) is superb.

A child custody sub-plot fleshes out the story arc, adding a bit of ‘vinegar’ to the story.

Overall enjoyable and very watchable, but for me not quite living up to the studio hype.

My Score: 7.8/10