Carol (2015) * * *

Directed by:  Todd Haynes

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy

Carol is a drama focusing on a taboo lesbian relationship between well-off housewife Carol (Blanchett) and timid, shy department store clerk Therese (Mara).    The film, directed by Todd Haynes, covered similar ground in 2002's Far From Heaven.    In Far From Heaven, the focus was on its protagonist Cathy's burgeoning relationship with a black man while coming to terms with her gay husband.      The backdrop is the early 1950's, where seemingly perfect suburbia covers up a wide range of secrets, lies, and pain.    The homes are spotless, but the lives of the inhabitants are far from it.     The reason such a relationship was considered taboo were based on puritanical beliefs.     Homosexuality was seen as a behavior that could be "cured" through psychotherapy and willpower.  

Carol has moments of intense power and it captures the look and feel of the period just right, but where it falters is in its core relationship,  in which poor Carol has to carry the emotional load and the conversation.     Therese is an attractive girl, but she is a monosyllabic dolt way out of her league with Carol.     I understand she is shy, but if she can loosen up enough to engage in rumpy-pumpy with Carol, then she can also figure a way to string two sentences together.      Carol's more natural soulmate is Abby (Paulson), her best friend/former lover whose job is to sit on the sidelines and be there for Carol as best she can.    Abby is smart, knowing, and has the unfortunate fate of not being played by Rooney Mara, so she is relegated to driving Carol around and undertaking huge impositions to help her.    

The story, much like Brokeback Mountain, has built-in, satisfying drama.    Carol's relationship with Therese is full of pitfalls, but neither can deny the intensity of their feelings.     When the two first meet, a bored Therese waits at her counter for anything to happen.    Something does.     She sees the blonde, elegant Carol dressed in a fur coat.     Carol sees the lonely Therese and they are instantly attracted.      Their behavior toward each other is businesslike.     Carol wants to buy a toy for her daughter for Christmas, but we sense the attraction beneath the surface.    Carol accidentally leaves her gloves on the counter, Therese mails them to her and the romance begins.  

This is not a romance full of outward displays of affection in the early going.     Each senses attraction from the other, but they are unsure.    They live in a society in which open affection towards the same sex is considered immoral and grounds for Carol's estranged husband to seek full custody of their daughter.      Once Carol hears this awful news from her lawyer, she decides to take a road trip.    She asks Therese to come along and Therese agrees to do so.

Therese's love life is equally disoriented.     She has a boyfriend of sorts that she keeps at arm's length.    He wants them to travel to Paris and marry.    Therese is reluctant to marry Richard (Lacy), but certainly not reluctant to tag along with Carol.     Richard observes correctly that Therese has a crush, but neither fully comes out and admits what is happening.     During such a period, Richard would cruelly try to force Therese into marrying him as if her feelings towards women would ever change.     The men in the film do not understand that homosexuality isn't a learned behavior, but is based on emotion and love.     One can not force someone to be straight any more than one than force someone to be gay.

Therein lies the tragedy of Carol.    These two women know where their happiness lies, but will have to go through hell to achieve it, if they ever do at all.     Carol understands this more than Therese, who may not be as willing to put herself through the pain.     This is understandable given the pressures society imposes.      Blanchett carries the emotional weight in Carol and of course is more than up to it.     She reeks of elegance and sophistication with every flick of the hair or puff of a cigarette, but inside she is full of fear, love, and hope that maybe she and Therese will work out.     The power of the performance lies in things Carol doesn't say more than what she does say.      She is steady outwardly, but trembles inside.

I can't blame Mara for how underwritten her character is.    She is as shy and introverted as Carol is outgoing and extroverted.     We see many shots of their hands.    Carol's fingers are perfectly manicured and polished, while Therese's are not.     Therese is pretty in an understated way, which is consistent.     I just wish writer Phyllis Nagy (based on a Patricia Highsmith novel) gave Therese more personality and more to say.    She and Carol sit quietly in the car in numerous scenes.     Are they smoldering in their attraction or did they run out of things to say on the turnpike?

Despite my objections, Carol is well-made and, unlike numerous dramas covering repression in the same period, ends on a happier note.     This is refreshing.     I read stories of same-sex couples that were together 50 years before marrying.     They had to start someplace, even in a such a difficult and complex time for them.