Far from Heaven (2002)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 107 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Stars: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert
IMDb score:
7,3 (51.448)
Releasedate: 2 September 2002
Far from Heaven plot
"What imprisons desires of the heart?"
Cathy is the perfect 50's housewife. One night she catches her husband with another man, and her tidy world falls apart. In her grief, she finds comfort in the friendship with her African-American gardener. Given the taboos that rest on this, her life gets even further confused.
Actors and actresses
Cathleen "Cathy" Whitaker
Frank Whitaker
Raymond Deagan
Eleanor Fine
Sybil
Dr. Bowman
Mrs. Leacock
Stan Fine
Mona Lauder
David Whitaker
Reviews & comments
Donkerwoud
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- 8696 messages
- 3960 votes
Todd Haynes uses the stylistic devices of the fifties cinema to paint a horror image of an era in which people should not be themselves. A wife had to know her place as her husband's mainstay. An African-American man should not think he was equal to his white neighbors. It was better for a homosexual to pretend to be a heterophile family man than to openly display his deviant sexuality.
The tone of the story is rock hard and makes short shrift of the idea that the fifties would have been such a paradisiacal and innocent time, no, we see here an era in which the individual was snowed under the social pressure to comply with the perfect picture. Fortunately it is presented with a certain sense of ridicule so that the cynical story never gets heavy.
In the midst of that world of appearances and facades, Jullianne Moore plays a woman who tries to maintain her dignity while becoming the target of gossip and ridicule on all sides. She knows how to give her role a certain duality in how she looks at what happens to her from a liberal vision, but who, through her position as a white housewife, also notices how she is trapped in a world that is not yet ripe for the equality of the individual. The best thing about her role is that at the end all male minorities appear to have the choice to do something else with their lives. Both the gay husband's character and the African-American neighbor's character have the ability to escape the situation. The woman, however, remains behind and cannot help but let what happened happen to her.
Translated from Dutch · View original
cantforgetyou
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- 1964 messages
- 1693 votes
Beautiful movie. The music and colors come across beautifully in this sad drama.
Julianne Moore plays super well. She is walking on 'eggs' and wants to do well for everyone, but forgets herself. Very nicely set up. The rest of the cast is also superb.
The subject: 'Having homosexual feelings in the 1950s' is sensitively portrayed here.
How narrow-minded people used to be (sometimes even now, but less so in my opinion). In addition to not accepting homosexuality, discrimination on the basis of skin color was also a problem at the time. Terrible say.
Definitely worth a look, if only for the music and the colors and the 50's style.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
According to the standard.
Far From Heaven is actually a fairly decent drama film that follows the lines of a drama as you can usually expect from America. I saw the film a while ago, but because of a broken keyboard I never got the chance to write a piece on it. So now finally with a new keyboard to seize that opportunity.
Moore plays these kinds of roles with her eyes closed, which makes her a pretty logical choice for the role, but it also makes it a bit boring. She doesn't exactly play this part with more passion or energy than usual, as if it was actually more of a bargain for her. Haysbert as the underdog among the big names doesn't really know how to take the space to stand out in his own way. The other members remain mostly invisible.
Once the film takes some focus to set up the background nicely, it looks pleasantly away. I especially liked the renderings of the seasons. The colors are indeed positive here and there, only director Haynes ultimately lets the images speak for themselves and does not add much to it as the conductor of the set. They could also have been brought to life a little more in the editing room.
In the end it is predictable and because of the reasonably brave content, it never really knows how to press the right keys to communicate a lasting feeling. It's quite reasonable for what it is, but it's not really special at all. The film stays on its feet, but then can't lift off the ground. Sad, but to be expected.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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