Carol (Film)

Sensitive. Complex. Erotic. Tender. Eloquent and moving. A delicate and fragile film. Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt, the story offers an honest look at the necesssity of being true to one's nature, and an exquisite story of falling in love. Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) and Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) tenderly and passionately make for a memorable couple in this beautiful and poignant perfect-casting film about longing, loss and the wonder of love. 

Note: For mature audience

Carol is a 2015 British-American romantic drama film directed by Todd Haynes. It had been in development since 1997 when screen playwright Phyllis Nagy wrote the first draft. It is based on the 1952 romance novel The Price of Salt (also known as Carol) by Patricia Highsmith.  The film stars Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy and Kyle Chandler. Set in New York City during the early 1950s, Carol tells the story of a forbidden affair between a department-store clerk (an aspiring female photographer) and an older woman going through a difficult divorce.

The film had troubled development, with problems in financing, rights, scheduling conflicts, and accessibility. Number 9 Films came on board as a producer in 2011, when co-founder Elizabeth Karlsen secured the rights to the novel. It is co-produced by New York-based Killer Films, which joined the project when co-founder and Todd Haynes's collaborator Christine Vachon approached Haynes to direct in 2013. Principal photography began in March 2014, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lasted 34 days. Cinematographer Edward Lachman shot Carol on Super 16 mm film.

Blurb

In an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's seminal novel The Price of Salt, the film CAROL follows two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change. A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens. While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) begins to question her competence as a mother as her involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) come to light. (Written by The Weinstein Company)

Screenplay explained, and interesting film insights:

By Phyllis Nagy,  American theatre and film director, screenwriter and playwright - Carol Film Featurette 




By Cate Blanchett, behind the scenes interview. Starring role as Carol.

Carol: Cate Blanchett "Carol" Official Movie Interview. 

Carol: Rooney Mara "Carol " Official Movie Interview.

The Envelope: What do Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara think of director Todd Haynes' favorite 'Carol' scenes?

Digging Deeper's  Carol: The Love Story in a Look 

Interview of actress Rooney Mara: As 'Therese Belivet' and playing alongside Cate Blanchett.

The Nearness of You - Carol and the Cine-poetics of love.  In a Lonely Place.  


Film Soundtrack

Carol Soundtrack.  Score by Carter Burwell


Awards and Accolades 

Carol has a total number of 87 awards and 273 nominations.  It competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where Mara tied for the Best Actress award. The film received critical acclaim and many accolades, including six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe Award nominations, and nine BAFTA Award nominations well as awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Society of Film Critics.  For more information, refer to Wiki's 'List of accolades' received by Carol.

Carol opened in limited release in the United States on November 20, 2015, in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2015, and wide release on January 15, 2016.


Official Trailers:

CAROL Official Featurette - Carol & Therese

CAROL Official Final Trailer (2015) Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara. YouTube, accessed May 2016.

CAROL - Official U.S. Trailer - The Weinstein Company. YouTube, accessed May 2016. 


Reviews for Carol: 

Carol: A Rare Movie That Escapes the Male Gaze.  www.thecut.com

'Carol' Explores the Sweet Science of Magnetism.  www.nytimes.com

Carol Review - Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are Dynamite. www.theguardian.com  

Carol Review: 'Cate Blanchett will slay you'. telegraph.co.uk

Carol Review - Metacritic.  www.metacritic.com

Carol Review.  www.rogerebert.com

Carol Film Review.  www.variety.com

Cate Blanchett Stars in a Film of Forbidden Love.  www.independent.co.uk 

Patricia Highsmith's Forbidden Love. www.newyorker.com

Secret Lives: "Carol" and "Legend."  www.newyorker.com


Image Credit:

Carol Film Poster. en.wikipedia.org. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.


Resources:

Carol Film.  CAROL.  Accessed May 11, 2016

Carol (Film).  en.wikipedia.org. Accessed May 11, 2016

Carol (2015). IMDb. Accessed May 11, 2016.

Highsmith, Patricia.  The Price of Salt.  New York: Dover Publications, Inc. (2015)

Various YouTube interviews of Phyllis Nagy, Todd Haynes, producers, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

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