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CAROL

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* * * ½ (Joyce)

* * * (Don) 

(Scandalous ’50s love story)

A love story involving two women in the early 1950s was a shocking and scandalous event, to be sure. Add the fact that one of the women was nearly twice as old from a “proper, wealthy family and married with a young daughter and the affair becomes more shocking.

Such is the story of Carol (Cate Blanchett) and Therese (Rooney Mara), who both had a “love at first sight” when their eyes met at a department store. Therese was a young, insecure saleslady in the toy section, giving advice on a gift for Carol’s daughter. Carol leaves her gloves on the counter (inadvertently?) and Therese tracks her down to return them.

Carol is going through a nasty divorce, with custody of their daughter at stake. A scandal will prove very harmful, so she must be very discreet. Her husband is a real pig.

Therese also has a boyfriend, but there is something (love?) missing in their relationship. The one positive thing he does is to encourage her interest in photography.

The lesbian relationship builds very slowly, a bit too slowly for me. When the two women take a road trip together, their first night is spent in separate motel rooms, and their second night in separate beds.

The movie opens close to where it ends, leaving you to wonder what happens when their relationship is exposed.

Director Todd Haynes has created a wonderful period piece, with great attention to the details of the early ’50s, from cars, hairdos and black and white TVs to the narrow attitudes and behaviors of society.

Blanchett is so cool and elegant, in contrast to the insecure innocence of Therese, giving us an interesting look at two different people who come together in a strong, passionate relationship in spite of the restrictions that society has placed on them. My only problem is the very slow pace (over two and a half hours) that the movie takes.

Rated R, with profanity, nudity and sexual encounters.

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