by Ben Hargreaves
The critical consensus on the latest release from director Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven) has been overwhelmingly positive, with the film expected to receive nods at the Academy Awards and Cate Blanchett tipped for best actress in her role as Carol. It is with some trepidation that this review sets out the case for the film as slightly less than the sum of its talented parts. The acting and choice of cast are faultless and though Blanchett will receive the plaudits, Rooney Mara, as Theresa, gives a performance of great subtlety to off-set the scene-stealing, theatricality of Carol. The direction is of similar brilliance, with the camera keeping its distance from Carol, the viewer cannot help but follow her movements as she flits in and out of view – a technique that mimics the furtive glances Theresa snatches of her. Haynes is clearly adept at manipulating the audience and we are constantly kept at a slight remove from the action, as he maintains shots outside of cars, with the dialogue inside muffled, and zooming the camera onto his actor’s faces losing sight of the overall picture.
The intention is to reflect love lived in world where it is denied and is therefore limited to small moments, brief glances and the dreadful monotony that lies in-between the next brief meeting. The pacing of the film relies on the audience’s engagement in these small scenes between Carol and Theresa, as events unfold at a slow pace and eschews the familiar scenes of the romantic film where the couple are allowed the unadulterated bliss of early love. Thematically it makes perfect sense but, from a cinematic perspective, it removes any sense of dramatic tension and leaves the film feeling leaden by its eventual conclusion. The film conveys a laudable degree of depth in the characters’ interaction and in Haynes’s direction to effectively tell the story of the love affair yet, in this reviewer’s opinion, never manages to fully involve the audience in the unfolding drama. This is a criticism that consigns the film, for all of its positives, to be a noble failure in storytelling