Review: ‘Carol’

The 1950s was not that long ago, especially when you consider how old some countries and cultures are, and definitely when you consider how old the entire world is, in comparison to that the 1950s was practically yesterday. And yet the time period was so different in so many ways, with gender and sexual norms in society established in a way to maintain the hetero-male dominance of the day. “Carol” is a love story set in that time period, a tale of what happens when two people fall in love in a time and place in which their love is perceived as abhorrent and deviant behavior requiring psychotherapy and segregation from society.

Which is a shame because if it wasn’t for the dumb hang ups of the people at large and the ridiculous social mores foisted upon everyone, this would have been a nice relationship for everyone involved, but because the main characters had to deal with a bunch of bullshit outside of who they were, this relationship ends up involving a lot of anguish. Leave it to the ugly judgmental side of our culture to turn something so pure and wonderful into so difficult and painful.

It is 1952, the Christmas season, New York City. Therese (Rooney Mara) works a sales job at a department store, and she is also in a relationship with some dude named Richard but while he’s all like “Please marry me already, I am begging you,” she’s all like “I’m not really feeling it.” This fella won’t take a hint, though, and just keeps trying to make it happen. But she’s unsatisfied and directionless and doesn’t know what she wants, and then while working she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), and at least for Therese it is love at first sight, as she becomes totally and obviously smitten. And as for Carol. as she is going through a divorce from an unhappy marriage, she sees Therese as a rare chance to reclaim a part of her that she has no doubt spent her whole life denying, save for that one time she hooked up with her best friend (Sarah Paulson), much to the chagrin of Mr. Carol (Kyle Chandler).

So the movie is two things for two different characters – for Therese, this is a coming of age story, the first time she falls in love with another person, and it just happens to be with a person of the same sex, which shouldn’t be any sort of problem, but this is 1952 America, so of course its a problem. She has no one to turn to for guidance and has to navigate some tricky love-strewn waters based solely on her ill-honed instincts.

But for Carol this movie is about something totally different, as her sexual leanings are used against her by her husband in their divorce. Actually Mr. Carol is a bit of a weirdo because he’s trying to force Carol to stay with him in a loveless marriage of convenience or else he would petition the court for full custody of their young child, ripping their daughter away from her mother, and I feel like this idiot didn’t really see this whole idea through. Like, how awkward was that going to be for, oh I don’t know, the rest of their lives together? Maybe he just wanted to “save face” in the community, and not be seen as the divorced guy, but that’s his problem, and why should he even care about what anyone else thinks of him and his failed marriage to an admitted lesbian? So Carol meets a young woman, who is very nice, they get along right away and soon discover that they enjoy each other’s company. And instead of being able to pursue that like consensual adults, Carol finds herself having to decide between this person she cares for but just met recently and her daughter, and really that’s not much of a choice for a mother.

So “Carol” is a love story, but with complications like these, it becomes a little more than just that. A reflection of a time paradoxically prettier to look at yet uglier on the inside, this is a love story flavored with speculation, regret, sorrow, joy…well, I guess all the things that actually makes love what it is, regardless of time and place. It is fascinating and compelling to watch this particular relationship blossom from acorn to full grown tree, from a chance encounter at a department store to declarations of love, all the while presented in a beautiful movie, rich in visual detail as it is in truth.