Far From Heaven (DVD, 2003)

If nothing else, give Todd Haynes, director of this movie, a round of applause for creating a 1950's feel for this 2002 movie. Taking place in Hartford, Connecticut during autumn, the movie is picture perfect with colorful leaves falling and costumes that bring back memories for us baby boomers who were children then.

Julianne Moore is Cathy Whitaker, a June Cleaver housewife raising the proverbial daughter and son. She is married to Frank Whitaker (Dennis Quaid), a rising executive for an electronics company. She has a best friend Eleanor (Patricia Clarkson) and a bevy of other female friends who meet for daiquiris. She volunteers for civic activities. But here the perfect family ends.

At the beginning of the movie, Cathy is called by the police to come pick up her husband. The reason is never disclosed to her, but in the background you hear a policeman talk about a young drunken faggot, whom we later learn is Frank. Cathy drives Frank home after paying a fine, and later throws the paperwork away unread. But several days later, she takes a dinner dish to her "late working" husband and finds him in a passionate kiss with a male business associate. Utterly devastated with no one to talk to, Cathy puts on a happy face. Frank goes to counseling, and she puts it aside until one night Frank tries to make love to her and can't. He is so mad at himself that he strkes her in the head and makes her bleed.

Also going on in Cathy's life is a strange black man Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert) lurking in her garden. When she goes outside to see what is going on, she finds that he is her gardener, the son of her regular gardener who has died. Cathy keeps a polite distance from Raymond but continually bumps into him at the house and at an art show and finds that they have a lot in common--despite their racial differences. Soon they become good friends--nothing sexual. But when they try to share some of their lives with each other, they experience hostile reactions from both races who notice.

How the movie ends I will not disclose. But you will leave it thinking that we have come a long way since the 1950s in the understanding of both homosexuality and racism. Although we are still evolving and American life is far from resolved, relationships now are MUCH more open.

Julianne Moore was nominated for Best Actress for this movie. The movie was also nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Music (Elmer Bernstein), and Best Original Screenplay. It won none.

In three special features to the movie, we learn how Todd Haynes worked so hard to create the 1950s effect in the movie. We learn that he modeled it after "Written in the Wind", "All That Heaven Allows", and "Imitation of Life"--all successful movies of the 1950 decade. His ideal was Douglas Sirk, who produced several succesful movies then including the above.

The beauty of the 'technicolor-like' cinematography is worth the watch (as is the period detail.) The acting is really quite good, too, despite some of the forced dialogue. The movie itself seems like it could have been written, directed and edited in the period it covers. In the first 20 minutes, I felt as though I was watching an old TV show due to the unbelievable perfection of the primary family - similar to the Cleavers or even the Brady's (years later). It may have been the 1950s, but even the wealthy upper crust households were not the perfection depicted in this film (perfectly quaffed housewives doting without question on the husband; children scolded such foul language as 'jeepers,' etc.) I understand it was devised for the stark contrast of the truth behind the facade, but it is far from subtle in its framing and, in my opinion, loses credibility because of it. From a moral perspective, the movie is a good reminder of how oppression begets lies, unhappiness, violence, etc. It is equally a good reflection on, (in retrospect and relatively speaking), how quickly a society can make marked progress in repositioning morality to better coincide with truth and good, not fear and bigotry. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

This story touches on many sensitive topics, racism (from both the white and black view points),homophobia,spousal abuse,and the effect of vicious gossip.
At times the film seems a bit slow,perhaps reflecting the tempo of a different decade, but taken as a whole this film is not to be missed.Those of us that remember this decade (the 50,s) appreciate the work and effort put forth to do an accurate portrayal of the styles and feelings of the time.The Stars of this saga all do excellent portrayals and make the characters seem real and alive.You should make a point of experiencing this story.

Far From Heaven delivers great performances while dealing with tough social issues in a society devoid of empathy. The performances are extraordinary and the characters are real. I strongly suggest that this is a film that will be long remembered for its poignant commentary regarding unfulfilled lives and the artificial America of the 1950's.

A Masterpiece. Ages from now, this film will be regarded as a time capsule for this time and place in Americana. The entire cast was excellent, but Julianne Moore was just outstanding. A movie like this comes along once every ten years. If you haven't seen it, do so right away.