Far from Heaven (2002)

A word of advice - watch a few Douglas Sirk movies first especially "All the Heaven Allows" with Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson and "Imitation of Life" with Lana Turner. The former film is for the romance with a gardener and the latter is the racism issue. It will make watching this more interesting and it's delightful to pick up the similarities - music costumes color palate cinematography and plot. In terms of the social issues highlighted it's quite far from Douglas Sirk by dealing with a homosexual husband something that couldn't have been shown in the 50s.Julianne Moore is lovely as the perfect housewife in Hartford. Dennis Quaid is her tormented gay husband. Dennis Haysbert is the gardener.This is a good movie and very involving but I prefer the original Sirk movies still.

A tribute to 50's melodrama that completely tilts the genre on it's head with a compelling, heartbreaking story about prejudice. 50's style racism and sexism is given a wallop in the midst of this period piece. I fell in love with it immediately. Julianne Moore is an unconventional choice to play the role of the wife (as she tends to only pick edgy, dark roles) and she soars. Dennis Quaid left me speechless. Dennis Haysbert is magnificent. This is one of the forgotten great films of the 2000's

"Some of my best friends are..." You fill in the blank It is sometimes heard from those whose espouse liberal philosophy, but have no real experience in dealing with those that are different.You could be liberal in the 50s, but it often was liberal in name only. Seldom were you faced with the reality of differences.Well, Cathy (Julianne Moore) had it all full in her face when she caught her husband (Dennis Quaid) with another man. In the 50s, the first step was conversion therapy, often with electro-shock treatments. It wasn't until 1973, that the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder.Cathy is soon faced with her views towards other races when she sees her gardener (Dennis Haysbert) at an art show. Her so-called "liberal" friends certainly show their prejudices, but she is not much better.Circumstances push her into a relationship with Raymond (Haybert), and things do get interesting.There might be sexual differences, and cultural differences, and racial differences, but the first and most important difference is determined at birth – whether you're a boy or a girl. Everything in Cathy's life is defined by her very femaleness. As much as the men in the film are going through all kinds of things, they're the ones who manage to go on. Cathy is the one left behind, because she is female.

I decided to seek this one out because of Julianne Moore. I thought it would be just another well-acted period drama. What I didn't know was that Todd Haynes was behind it, and from the opening the film lets you know what kind of style it will be. It's not one of those stuffy period dramas. In fact, it's very much made in the style of actual 1950s films. It's apparently taking on the style of Douglas Sirks' films, and even though I have never seen one, the style is apparent. This is the definition of a melodrama, but it serves the purpose completely and not the type of melodrama you would expect in this day and age. Everything is heightened in it's intensity. The incredible cinematography and use of colors is something to marvel at, and in terms of how the cinematography was constructed I don't think any other film could compare to. The beautiful music score is perfect and it only makes the atmosphere richer. All of this serves as a backdrop to a film that's really about contemporary issues in the 50s. That in itself has been the focus of many films in the last few years, but Far From Heaven stands apart from them all. The screenplay is brilliantly written, infusing rich backgrounds and characterization to all of the characters. In fact, the plot is pretty straight-forward and something you would see in classic films of that era, but now it feels fresh, alive with excitement. It's never depressing, and instead it tells its story until a satisfying conclusion. It's probably one of the best screenplays of its decade.The performances are also perfect. But Julianne Moore tops off this perfection. I was surprised by how little "big" scenes she has. I would have expected this film to, but then again that's just another surprise. She embodies this character completely, and now that we have all of these flawed and unlikable leads, here we have one who we can easily call a "hero". Someone who others could look up to, we instantly connect with Moore. Overall, Far From Heaven is the 2nd Haynes film I have seen (the other being I'm Not There), and still his ambition is as apparent as ever. This feels as unique of a film as one could hope for.