Tuesday 18 December 2018

Carol for Christmas

'Tis the season to be watching and tonight I want to suggest a movie for Christmas which I am rediscovering this year: Carol. Based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, which I haven't read. It is a love story between a young lower class and aspiring photographer Therese Belivet (played by Rooney Mara) and a wealthy and older married woman named Carol. The title character is of course played by none other than... Cate Blanchett. My favourite actress got rubbed of an Oscar again as she is absolutely mesmerizing there (well, I guess she always is). Generally, I am not very fond of love stories, but this one is so well built and the homosexuality of both characters in a time when it was a stigma considered a mental illness,sometimes even a crime, just gives true pathos and dimension to it. And both Blanchett and Mara are very convincing. And as the core of the plot is set during Christmastime, I consider it a Christmas movie. Not a shallow feelgood one, but a Christmas movie with heart and soul that haunts you after watching it.

1 comment:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Yes, I enjoyed this movie very much when I first saw it in the cinema. I haven't rewatched it since but I should, you know. It plays fairly regularly on the gay channel here.