Carol

Some critics have accused Carol of being too cold and distant with its romance between its two central female figures.  In fact, some have said that very issue is why the movie, despite getting many Oscar nominations, missed out on the big prize of Best Picture.  I would challenge that notion, and say that this is not a cold movie, but rather an intentionally reserved one.  Its two characters are forced to be guarded with each other because of the era they live in.  They are not so much cold, as it is quiet, restrained and absolutely beautiful.

On the surface, the movie is about two women who are plainly attracted to each other, but they must abide by society's rules at the time (the film is set in the 1950s), and keep their feelings secret.  They even at times feel the need to keep it secret when they are alone, and it is not until later in the film that they finally start to get fleetingly comfortable with expressing their love.  The titular Carol (Cate Blanchett) seems to be the bolder and more confident of the two, but she has plenty of struggles in her private life, most of them revolving around her former husband (Kyle Chandler) and their young daughter.  He is upset about her secret sex life that came out during the course of their marriage, and wants to use this against her in order to get full custody of the child.  Carol is willing to fight, but we can also see that she is very weary, perhaps almost defeated.  Our other main character is Therese (Rooney Mara), a quiet and somewhat sad young shopgirl working in an upscale department store in New York.  She has some good friends outside of work, but she is plainly lonely.

Carol picks up on this when she sees her working at the store one day, and they strike up a conversation while Carol is shopping for a Christmas present for her daughter.  Their conversation is friendly, but even then, there is a hint at a non-verbal attraction.  This is most likely why the film's detractors accuse it of being "cold" or "distant".  Most of the feelings between Carol and Therese are visual instead of verbal, and exist in the performances, or how the women look at or act around each other.  A lot of their relationship is small talk, instead of flat-out innuendo.  And while it is focused on a forbidden relationship for the time, the feelings that they have are something that is almost universal.  It's the emotions anyone feels in the early moments of a relationship - Those moments when you know how you feel about the other person, and wonder if they feel the same way about you.  It also deals with the fear of admitting your real feelings to that other person. 

In the film, a lot of that fear comes from the culture, and how no one would accept them.  But the brilliance of Carol is that the emotions can be felt by just about everyone, and it doesn't just have to be because of social prejudices.  There is always a fear of misunderstanding in every relationship, and that movie taps entirely into that nervousness during the early going.  Are you going too far with your emotions?  Will the other accept?  You feel like you are constantly being judged, and I think a lot of that is felt by the Therese character.  The reserved feelings these two characters have for each other is not "coldness", its them trying to get a feel for each other.  There is also always the sense that no one will understand them, and the movie never lets us forget that.  The love story in this movie is quiet and subdued, but it still manages to come through.

It's this quietness and intimacy that really appealed to me.  The movie does have its moments of passion, but it doesn't need to shock or throw in our faces these heavy feelings that these characters are going through.  I actually found myself incredibly engaged with each little scene of Carol and Therese chatting in a diner, or getting comfortable with each other when they are together during a road trip that they take together.  These building emotions, mixed with the tension that they could be caught at any minute, creates a more gripping sensation than some recent thrillers that I could name.  It is a movie filled with passion, anguish and triumph, but it never rubs our face in it, or feels like it is playing it for dramatic effect.  Everything about this movie, from the performances to the production design of the time period, feels intimate and small.  There are no big moments that are designed to look really good in a trailer, or a clip during an Award show.  It is simply a story that is completely captivating in its intimacy.

Carol juggles the joy and anguish of relationships better than just about any recent movie that I can think of, and it does so without any forced moments or scenes that feel staged.  It even manages to end on a note that is just perfect for these two characters, and it's wise to close on no dialogue at all, just the looks the two women exchange with one another.  It says more than any words could.  Perhaps this movie is too subtle for some.  But I found it completely fascinating. 

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