On Carol

Todd Haynes’ Carol takes pleasure from an attention to detail that rivals Mad Men (2007 – 2015) in its recreation of 1950s America. An immaculate looking piece of work that again, like Mad Men, represents a time where satisfaction in smoking and midday drinking was not taboo. The story of a divorcee (Blanchett) who falls for a young, department store worker (Mara), Carol draws you in with its period detail and enticing performances. It is hard to look away as Haynes’ careful plotting is expertly crafted, moving us in directions we don’t expect and giving us an ending so rare in love stories.

As a study of gender Carol raises many interesting questions. The lesbian relationship is approached with great subtlety with its taboo status only gently mentioned and its passion explored with tenderness, unlike the male fantasy that was Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013). Yet, there is certainly not equality for Carol and her lover. This is 1950s after all and gender inequality still remains today. The men in this story are emasculated in their inability to understand Carol and Therese’s relationship. The former’s husband slips as he attempts to both reconcile and reprimand Carol, while the latter’s oblivious partner rallies in anger against being usurped for attention. The manner in which men falter in the face of lesbianism may suggest a positive feminist reading, yet that Carol’s relationship with Therese is treated so suspiciously and as a means of leverage says otherwise. Although perhaps this is unfair, Carol is a period piece after all.

However one chooses to read its gender representations, Carol is beautiful film with a sublime ending.