Far From Heaven

Todd Haynes, US /France, 2002, 107 minutes

In 1950s Connecticut, Cathy (Julianne Moore) is the perfect housewife who seems to have it all: great kids, a successful husband and the respect of her social peers – the perfect life. But one night she discovers her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) kissing another man and her world suddenly unravels. Stricken by confusion and grief, she turns to her African-American gardener Raymond (Dennis Haysbert) for support and a friendship blossoms which tears even greater holes in her reputation. As tongues wag around town, Cathy learns to come to terms with a new chapter in her life.

It is a great shame that the director Douglas Sirk is best known these days because of a throwaway reference to a steak in Pulp Fiction. Through the 1950s, his visually lush melodramas such as Magnificent Obsession and Imitation of Life captured the approaches to life and respectability of the time. With Far From Heaven, director Todd Haynes not only pays homage to Sirk but also rips apart the sensibilities of that age, exploring issues of sexual and racial prejudice in a way which Sirk could only hint at.

The look and feel of this film are modelled closely on Sirk’s Heaven Can Wait and cinematographer Ed Lachman went to great lengths to use the same lighting techniques and lens filters as were used in the 1950s. Moore was pregnant during the filming and – perhaps because of this – simply radiates as Cathy. It is hard to think of any other actress who could so subtly convey the inner turmoil and yet strength of character that Moore brings to the role. Cathy is not someone to show emotion, but Moore shows us the fine cracks in the façade and the tumult of emotions beneath the surface.

Far From Heaven is also a film which demands repeated viewing both because of the glorious detail in the exterior scenes and because it hits you harder emotionally each time. It gives you faith in love and a knowledge that broken relationships can lead to new friendship. And yet it carries with it a bitter sadness, trapping you in the stifling attitudes of the 1950s where being normal was the only acceptable thing.

A pure piece of melodrama which is rarely seen these days and one which will leave your heart aching.

Review by Neil Chue Hong
Taken from EUFS Programme Spring 2004