Carol
Carol is Todd Haynes's 2015 romantic drama-period film. Phyllis Nagy's screenplay is based on Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel The Price of Salt (republished as Carol in 1990). The movie stars Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy, Kyle Chandler.
Set in New York City in the early 1950s, Carol tells the storey of a clandestine affair between an ambitious female photographer and an older woman in a divorce.
Carol was developing since 1997, when Nagy wrote the screenplay's first draught. British firm Film4 Productions and executive Tessa Ross financed development. The film had a rough development phase including money, rights, scheduling difficulties, and accessibility issues.
Number 9 Films joined on board in 2011, after Elizabeth Karlsen secured the novel's rights. The picture is co-produced by New York-based Killer Films, who joined the project in 2013 after being directed by Haynes' associate Christine Vachon. Main photography on British-American production started in March 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio and lasted 34 days. Cinematographer Edward Lachman filmed Carol on film Super 16mm.
Carol premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2015 and was released on November 20 and November 27 in the United Kingdom. Grossing nearly $42 million on a $11 million budget, the picture was lauded for Haynes' direction and Blanchett and Mara's performances and was the best-reviewed 2015 film.
Carol competed for Cannes' Palme d'Or, where Mara tied with Emmanuelle Bercot for the Best Actress Award. The film received many accolades, including five nominations for the Golden Globe Award, six nominations for Oscars and nine nominations for the BAFTA Award; as well as five Dorian Awards and awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Film Critics Society.
It appeared significantly in various "best of" film lists, and was rated as the finest LGBT film ever by the British Film Institute.
Plot
During the 1952 Christmas season, ambitious photographer Therese Belivet works in Manhattan's department store, Frankenberg. She meets a lovely woman, Carol Aird, who's seeking for her daughter, Rindy.
Carol buys a model train set at Therese's suggestions. When Carol leaves her gloves on the counter. Using Frankenberg's sales slip with Carol's name and address, Therese mails her.
Therese's lover, Richard, wants her to go with him to France, expecting they'll marry, but her connection is ambiguous. A common buddy, Dannie, invites Therese to a photo editor buddy's workplace, The New York Times, and offers to introduce her. Meanwhile, Carol's going through her husband's painful divorce, Harge. Carol phones Frankenberg's to thank the clerk for returning the gloves, inviting Therese to lunch. Therese visits Dannie, kissing her, but she gets uncomfortable and leaves.
Carol welcomes Therese to New Jersey's home. She stops buying a Christmas tree, and Therese pictures her candidly. Harge arrives suddenly to take Rindy to Florida for Christmas, becoming suspicious of Therese, as Carol had an affair with her friend Abby years earlier. Therese's argument witnesses. After leaving Rindy, a sad Carol accompanies Therese to the station to return home.
Carol calls to apologise and they meet at Therese's flat, where Carol presents her with a suitcase with a Canon camera and film present.
Carol has learnt that Harge asks the judge to examine a "morality clause" against her, threatening to disclose her homosexuality and giving Rindy full custody. She decides to take a road trip to avoid divorce stress and invites Therese to join her.
Richard accuses Therese of being smitten with Carol, and predicts that Carol would soon tyre. Both dispute and end their relationship. On trip's second night, Therese meets a travelling salesman, Tommy Tucker.
On New Year's Eve, first kiss Carol and Therese and have sex. The next morning, they realise that Tucker is actually a hired private investigator for evidence against Carol.
Carol confronts Tucker, threatening him at gunpoint, but he claims to have sent Harge tape recordings. Carol and Therese return. The next day, in Chicago, Therese hears that Carol flew home to fight for her daughter's custody, asking Abby to drive Therese home.
Abby gives Carol's letter. Therese phones Carol back home, but knowing she risks losing Rindy's custody if she maintains her relationship with Therese, Carol hangs up.
Therese prepares her photography portfolio and lands a job at The New York Times. Meanwhile, Carol saw a counsellor as a divorce settlement stipulation.
During a mid-April contentious meeting with divorce lawyers, Carol abruptly discloses what the tapes show and refuses to deny her sexuality. To avoid going to court and the potential of a public scandal, she says he can have Rindy's custody provided he allows her regular visits.
Carol writes to Therese, meeting in Ritz Tower Hotel's lounge. Carol tells she's going to work for a furniture firm and took an apartment on Madison Avenue.
Therese declines Carol's invitation to join her. Carol tells Therese she meets associates at the Oak Room, and if she changes her mind they can have supper.
Therese remains, Carol says, "I adore you." Jack, a colleague who hasn't seen Therese in months, and Carol exits, interrupts them.
Therese takes Jack's transportation to a party, but finds she can't connect to anybody. She departs Oak Room. She searches and sees Carol at a table.
Therese hesitates, walks to Carol. Your eyes connect. Carol gazes at Therese with a slow-growing smile.
Cast
- Cate Blanchett as Carol Aird
- Rooney Mara as Therese Belivet
- Sarah Paulson as Abby Gerhard
- Jake Lacy as Richard Semco
- John Magaro as Dannie McElroy
- Cory Michael Smith as Tommy Tucker
- Carrie Brownstein as Genevieve Cantrell
- Kevin Crowley as Fred Haymes
- Nik Pajic as Phil McElroy
- Kyle Chandler as Harge Aird
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