MOVIE REVIEW

Far From Heaven  (2002)

Starring: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert
Director: Todd Haynes

Rating: PG-13

Studio: Focus Features

Review Posted: 12.28.02

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara M. Fetters

"Heavenly Film a Showcase For Moore"

Born Hans Detlef Sierck, esteemed director Douglas Sirk arrived in Hollywood in the late 1930’s fleeing his native Germany in opposition to the rising power of the Third Reich. Starting with the rabidly anti-Nazi Hitler’s Madman in 1943, Sirk began a career specializing in florid melodramas culminating in a string of successful widescreen Technicolor attractions – films like Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, Tarnished Angels and Imitation of Life – in the 1950’s.

Largely forgotten for the next 20-odd years, it was not until the 1970’s and the French New Wave that Sirk’s style once more became popular. Championed by many of the critics-turned-directors of the period, the Sirk was cited as a major influence time and time again, especially by the French melodramaticist Rainer Werner Fassbinder (In a Year of 13 Moons, Querelle).

Why all the history? In a way, to fully understand Todd Haynes’ brilliant Far From Heaven, it is important to know about Sirk and his history. More than that, it is also vital to have an understanding of the exact type of melodrama that was in vogue during the 1950’s, as well as the cultural mores and topics those films could safely address.

Frank and Cathy Whitaker (Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore) lead a tranquil, seemingly utopian existence. They’re the face of industry, Mr. And Ms. Magnatech, so engulfed into corporate suburban culture that they blend idyllically into the vibrant colors of the changing seasons. But beneath this blissful façade lie burning secrets. Frank is rapt with guilt over his homosexual attractions and Cathy believes that the couple’s black gardener Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert) may be the most beautiful man she’s ever seen.

Where to start with Far From Heaven? First off, Todd Haynes is fast becoming one of the most original and vibrant filmmakers working on the American fringe. From Superstar (the Karen Carpenter story told with Barbie Dolls -- if you can find it, see it) to Poison to Safe to Velvet Goldmine, Haynes has fashioned himself a niche as a risk taker willing to delve into stories and subjects with a ferocity most directors seem to shy from.

Here he’s taken a film making style and concept and made it his own. Without condescending or looking cheekily back on the period, Far From Heaven is a film made exactly as if it had been shot during the period it is set. But whereas Sirk would never have dreamt of dealing with subjects as contemptuous as interracial dating and gay sex, Haynes looks at the subjects under a melodramatic microscope, revealing the hypocrisy and murky deceptions resting just beneath the seemingly Rockwell-ian surface.

The gifted cast the director has assembled is more than up to the task. Quaid continues his recent string of stirring performances and emerges as real threat for double Oscar nominations (lead actor for The Rookie, a supporting nod here) with his stirring turn. Also quite good are 24’s Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson, playing Cathy’s best friend Eleonor. The former shines as the proud single father drawn to Cathy whilst the later breaks hearts with her reactions to her best friends confessionals, her horrified rejoinder at what she deems the more poisonous of the two revelations bone chilling.

But while these three are extraordinary in their respective roles, it is Moore who is the revelation. One of the best actresses of the day, she out does herself here. Maybe it is working with Haynes that cannot help but bring out the best in Moore, her work in the director’s powerful Safe a previous high. This performance, however, is so fraught with perils and hardships for an actor, the line between dramatic insight and unintended camp so very thin, that Moore’s sublime balancing act is the epitome of movie acting – a real triumph.

The rest of the film works just as well. Edward Lachman’s lush cinematography pops off the screen, distinctly echoing the Sirk influences Haynes’ so deftly reaches for. Famed composer Elmer Bernstein, no stranger to 1950’s melodrama with a career spanning over 50 years, provides a score so wondrous Far From Heaven would feel empty without it. Also worth noting are Sandy Powell’s glorious costumes worthy of Edith Head, Mark Friedberg’s stunning production designs and Eva Polywaka’s gorgeously rich makeup.

The only quibble I could make about Far From Heaven is that maybe it’s time and style of filmmaking has come and gone. The is a film made as if it was created and put together in the 1950’s, and that aesthetic eschews the rapid fire patterns and short attention span platitudes of many modern films. So what? As a film guaranteed to impress and make an audience think, Far From Heaven is divine indeed.

Rating: 4 out of 4

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