Far from Heaven: A Review

FAR FROM HEAVEN

The 1950s were for some a golden age of charm and elegance. For others, the Eisenhower Era was one of deep repression. Far from Heaven plays into both ideas, though leaning towards the latter. It evokes the filmmaking style to tell its tale with all its complexities beneath the graceful veneer. 

1957, Hartford, Connecticut. Elegant housewife Cathleen "Cathy" Whitaker (Julianne Moore) seems to have it all. Her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) is a successful ad executive. They are even the literal faces of the company Magnatech, appearing in the print ads. Cathy is the proud mother of a boy, David (Ryan Ward) and a daughter, Janice (Lindsay Andretta). 

However, all is not as pristine as it seems. Frank harbors a deep secret. He is a closeted gay man, something that threatens to emerge when he is arrested. Cathy is inadvertently caught up in her own gossip after encountering Raymond Deagans (Dennis Haysbert). He is the black gardener who is taking over his late father's accounts. Their interaction, witnessed by a local reporter profiling "Mrs. Magnatech" is misconstrued. 

Initially, things stay hush-hush. However, one night Cathy goes to Frank's office with a surprise dinner. It is Cathy who is surprised when she finds Frank in passionate lip-lock with another man. He admits his struggles and they decide Frank will enter conversion therapy. It ends up leading to Frank's growing drinking problem. It also leads to an accidental slap. 

Raymond finds Cathy sobbing and offers to take her to town to look at some trees and flowers for his work. She agrees, seeing nothing off about taking time to do some errands while in town. They are again spotted by Mona (Celia Weston), Hartford's gossip queen. Now it is Frank who is enraged at the lurid suggestions of miscegenation. Cathy fires Raymond to quell the rumors, and she and Frank go to Miami for a long-delayed second honeymoon on New Year's. However, Frank cannot be "cured" of his same-sex desires. With him finally finding fulfillment, he asks for a divorce. Will Cathy find a kindred spirit with Raymond? Will society let our three figures live?

If one knows the filmography of Douglas Sirk, one appreciates Far from Heaven. The Todd Haynes written and directed film borrows heavily from at least three of Sirk's melodramas. Race relations make up a major element in Imitation of Life. Frank's alcoholism as coping for his struggle to be aroused are reminiscent of Written on the Wind. The hunky gardener who brings culture, life and love into our hausfrau echoes All that Heaven Allows. The very title Far from Heaven mirrors the very titles and style of a Sirk film. 

Far from Heaven is like a Douglas Sirk film if Sirk had been allowed to be more open and touch on other topics like homosexuality. Haynes has Sirk's visual and thematic style down perfectly. In terms of look, Far from Heaven is filled with lush colors dominated by green and blue. The autumn leaves are also in keeping to the lush palate. The soft look in the film deliberately evokes the era, making Far from Heaven familiar while still being original. Even the title card showing "Far from Heaven" captures the style and look of what one might expect from a 1950's melodrama. I will argue that the font might be a bit bigger than what Sirk would have used, but that might be nitpicky. 

Far from Heaven made a wise choice in having Elmer Bernstein write the score, which along with the cinematography was one of the film's four Oscar nominations. Though Bernstein never worked with Sirk, he was familiar with the era and musical style. Bernstein had been working in film since Sirk's time, so he knew how to make Far from Heaven's score lush or menacing when needed.

Haynes also revealed much through his use of the camera. The Dutch angles used when Frank wanders slowly into the underground gay bar or when Raymond's daughter Sarah (Jordan Puryear) is attacked by white boys reveals subconsciously the growing chaos internal or external we see. There are other subtleties revealed, such as when Cathy and Raymond discuss modern art at a local exhibition. Amidst the conformity of the era, you have a white woman and a black man discussing Miró. Both of them would have fewer rights in the era, and here, we see them as equals and as embracing nonconformity. As I think of it, the same can be said for Frank, who is a sexual minority despite his male white privilege. 

It is curious that modern art in the Nifty Fifties is also touched on in another 1950's-set film: Pleasantville. That film couched its firm dislike to downright antagonism of the era in the veneer of a faux-nostalgic look. Far from Heaven, conversely, was oddly more respectful of both the times and the people who lived them. Pleasantville hammered its view that the 1950's were bad compared to the 1990's. Far from Heaven was more sympathetic in its portrayal of present-day looking back to the past. I think it is because Pleasantville presents the era as simplistic to almost intellectually vapid, while Far from Heaven presents it as more complex and questioning of itself. Yet I digress. 

The stylistic manner in Far from Heaven extends to the acting. Julianne Moore was also one of the film's four nominations (the screenplay also receiving recognition). She has a soft speaking manner, not quite breathy but genteel. Even in the moments of struggle and tragedy, Moore never explodes. This, I think, keeps to how some Sirk women were (Lana Turner being a notable exception). Moore gives Cathy a quiet grace and dignity while also keeping to the manner of our ideas of a housewife. Cathy is not dim or weak. She keeps to a soft manner but also has a sense of conviction and moral courage. Dennis Quaid was moving as the conflicted Frank (which in retrospect is an ironic name). Some of his best scenes are with James Rebhorn as the psychiatrist who will attempt to change Frank's sexual orientation. We see Frank's growing unease to hostility at having to undergo this treatment. One of Quaid's final scenes, where he tearfully breaks down in front of his family, is deeply moving and unsettling.

Dennis Haysbert too does well as Raymond, the intellectual gardener. He makes Raymond into a strong and elegant man, protective of his daughter, gentle and intelligent. In her small role, Patricia Clarkson does wonderful work as Eleanor Fine, Cathy's BFF who is supportive, but who also does not understand Cathy. Ward and Andretta also give good performances as David and Janice. One does feel for David, forever longing for "Pop's" attention. Janice for her part does not understand why her friends and their mothers shun her at the ballet recital. 

One can wonder how Cathy and Raymond must be dumb AF as the kids say to not realize that a black man and a white woman going around town together would not set tongues wagging. That, on the whole, is a curious but not major point of criticism. 

Far from Heaven is both a pastiche and homage to the films of Douglas Sirk. The film is appropriately lush and romantic, but with a great deal of love and affection for the subject and characters. Had he lived to see it, I think Douglas Sirk would have been more than proud to have inspired Far from Heaven. It is a perfect Imitation of Sirk.

DECISION: A-