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Anybody seen the movie "Carol?"

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Tightrope, Jan 31, 2016.

  1. Tightrope

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    The movie "Carol" is about a woman who is divorcing her husband and falls for a younger woman who she meets while shopping at a New York department store for the holidays. It takes place in the 50s, I think. The same guy who directed "Far From Heaven" directed this movie. It is up for a lot of Oscars. I guess that means it's a better movie than "Far From Heaven." I think it is a little better. If you saw it, what did you think of it? What are the main characters all about and what motivates them? There's a lot to chew on.
     
  2. hellobitches

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    Haven't watched it but I've read great reviews about it, so I'm looking forward to eventually watching the movie when it comes out in iTunes or something.

    Cate Blanchett is always really good, and Rooney Mara won best actress at Cannes, so I expect the performances to be superb! Excited!!
     
  3. armydude

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    I've seen the "Carol" sketch on Tim and Eric. Does that count?

    Any other tim and eric fans on here?!
     
  4. AlamoCity

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    I haven't seen "Carol." For some reason, the first time I saw an ad for it I thought it was a movie with Carrie Underwood :lol:.

    My friends love Tim and Eric. I just don't get their comedy style. Saw a chrimbus sketch and it was so weird. I guess when it comes to comedy I am too "mainstream."
     
  5. Phalange

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    I saw it a couple of days ago, and I adored it. I had just watched Freeheld, which had me suffering from great disappointment. Then, Carol came and rescued my lesbian heart. I didn't want it to end. To me, it's the best lesbian movie out there, and one of my favorite movies overall. The feels it brought up... Oh god. If I had any doubt about my love for women, I tell you, it's all gone now.

    It's refreshing to see a lesbian story where the main focus isn't someone struggling to accept their sexuality. Another great thing is that no one dies! I know, right? Does it get better than this?

    Brief on the protagonists: Carol is older and more experienced than Therese. Therese seems to be struggling a bit with figuring herself out, from what I recall. Carol, on the other hand, is a mother and going through a divorce. Additionally, there's a class difference, with Carol being upper class.

    The leads Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara have fantastic chemistry. Overall, the performance of the entire crew is brilliant.

    Most of the story takes place in silences and gazes, which is just my kind of thing. It really builds up suspense. I guess, if one is straight and doesn't know what the movie is about, it might be too subtle to recognize as a romance. That's just a thought though.

    The film plays with subject and object, which really adds something extra. During its first half, Carol is seen from Therese's point of view. This later changes, albeit subtly. It's not really something you think about while watching (just as it should be), but the technique is worth noting. An excellent portrayal of someone falling for someone else, with that kind of obsessive nature of it.

    Carol is based on the book "The Price of Salt", written by Patricia Highsmith in 1952. There's something special about looking at the 1950's from a female perspective. I should also add that it feels like the movie really is from that time, and not simply a movie done now but taking place in the 50's.


    But most of all, it was an outlet for my long-growing crush on Cate Blanchett. What an extraordinary woman.
     
  6. BookWriter1994

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    I want to! I know there's a book too! if I can't watch it then I will just buy the book instead because reading is awesome!
     
  7. Uncolored

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    UHHHH CAROL WAS SUCH A GOOD MOVIE!
    I was looking forward to Carol coming to the theatre near me for months. I was stalking the movie listing for it waiting for it to come to me. I saw it either right before Christmas or right after.

    Carol was so refreshing and adult like. I think that just about any lesbian could relate. The setting time of the 1960s was perfect, making this movie a real classic. I can't wait to buy it on Blu ray.

    On a side note... the other thing that entertained me was that nearly the entire audience was made up of adorable lesbian couples (and straight old men by themselves, which is fine). I live in an area that does not have a lesbian "scene" but has a very active gay scene for men. I kind of compare my area to a cave and all of the lesbians in my area to bears. Why? Because whenever a cute movie like Carol or the Danish Girl comes to theaters all of the lesbians come out of "hibernation" and head out to see the movie. Then all of the bears sit around and eat popcorn in the dark together and then go back to their caves at the end of the night.
    Okay, I'm done talking.
     
  8. Tightrope

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    Yes, I picked up on the chemistry. Now that you mention the silence and gazes, there is plenty of that technique and I think it works well. It's sort of a period piece and they do that part of it very credibly. I thought that there was that same progression you mention. Therese is a lot more fascinated by Carol in the beginning and it's causing her a great deal of angst, because she's at a fork in the road of finding herself. Then, Therese blossoms somewhat and is more self-confident, and she can choose to say yes or no, and not because she wants to please, which is what she's like in the first half of the movie. I noticed the maturation. I had to think about the changing between the points of view of the protagonists as the film goes on.

    There is a lot of silence and gazes as there is in "Far from Heaven." In that movie, it's about the faces of Julianne Moore and Morgan Freeman. This director really knew how to set the mood in both of these films and cause the suspense to build. In "Far from Heaven," the film got real dark when Julianne Moore goes to Dennis Quaid's office to bring him dinner. This one got darker with the New Year's car trip across many states and how that adventure would play out.

    ---------- Post added 2nd Feb 2016 at 06:28 PM ----------

    This is a landmark movie. I haven't heard people talk about it as much as "Brokeback Mountain." I see this movie as having a difficult aspect because they were in such different places in their lives. Carol was a middle aged woman who was married to a successful businessman. She had already lived a full life. Therese was a lot younger and trying to get her foot in the door somewhere. I wondered how they'd work around that. In "Brokeback Mountain," the two stars were about the same age, and they were still in very different places. I think that the sticky wickets in "Brokeback Mountain" were that they were men and they were living in conservative, rural areas. It will be interesting to see how the Oscars treat the film "Carol."

    The audience was about the same! I'd say that about half were lesbian couples or groups of 3 or 4 women. The next biggest group were what appeared to be middle-aged men and women who were either married or coupled. Then, there were about a dozen men by themselves, including yours truly, and the ages and all that of these guys varied, and then a handful of women on their own.

    I wanted to see this movie to see how the whole thing unfolded, and how Cate Blanchett would tackle this role. She did a great job. So did Rooney Mara and everyone else.
     
    #8 Tightrope, Feb 2, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2016
  9. ResidentTheatreKid

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    I've read the book five times in the past three days and I need to see the movie. Badly. I've watched clips of it (including the sex scene, sorrynotsorry) and from what I can see, Cate and Rooney have absolutely beautiful chemistry and they are so good at playing the roles of women in the 1950s. From the way they move, talk, and act around others, it's just absolutely perfectly thought out. Everything right down to the filmography seems amazing- the sex scene had such amazing camera angles, I was just about dying.

    Now I've got the job of trying to organise a secret trip to see Carol with my girlfriend and my best friend, and to convince my parents that we're going to see Deadpool XD Wish me luck, because I'm going to die without seeing these beautiful lesbians.
     
  10. ResidentTheatreKid

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    Update: I was fangirling over the book in tutor this morning, and my tutor was listening and asked if she could borrow it XD I am spreading the gay, be proud of me XD
     
  11. truebraethic

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    It was alright. Something that stuck out to me was that it didn't seem like Therese (Mara) was much of her own person. She had little agency and seemed to be subject to the whims and desires of others. So, boring in that way. But Carol (Blanchett) was hot.
     
  12. Tightrope

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    Therese started out that way but became more assertive. I think Carol cared about her but also worked it through being nurturing and through the power imbalance. I also think that, even though she was older, Carol was more watchable and interesting than Therese, who seemed to be smart but also kind of boring at the same time.
     
  13. Rancid

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    Yes! I really liked it. It was very artistic, moving, and romantic. I especially like how they handled the time period it was set in, and the costuming was stunning.

    I agree with the notion that Therese seems quite dull at first, but she gets a little more interesting later on in the movie. I'm currently reading the book now and I still feel that way about Therese, but it's well worth the watch and/or read in the end :slight_smile:
     
  14. Michael

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    It's on my 'to watch' list, high place because of the bits I saw during the Oscars.
    If I can find the book first, I'd go for the book right away.